Major Asian Coffee Growing Regions: Flavor Characteristics, Differences, and Cultural Stories of Indonesia, India, and Vietnam Coffee Beans

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

The world's coffee regions are mainly divided into three major areas: Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Each region and production area has different coffee varieties, processing methods, and flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's original mission is to taste coffee beans from around the world, understand every coffee variety, every coffee region, and every processing flavor, conduct comparisons, and establish a visual database. FrontStreet Coffee hopes every coffee enthusiast can gain a deeper understanding of the coffee world. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the Asian coffee regions, where coffee beans are known for their rich, full-bodied characteristics.

Indonesia

The Development History of Indonesian Coffee

Indonesia is located in Southeast Asia, and its coffee history dates back to 1696 when the Dutch introduced coffee beans to Indonesia. After successful trial cultivation, Java Island was identified as ideal for large-scale coffee planting. However, in 1877, nearly all coffee trees in Indonesia were infected with leaf rust disease (a bacterial infection). Arabica coffee beans could not resist this disease and were almost completely wiped out, resulting in devastating losses.

Later, Indonesia had to import Robusta coffee beans from Africa. Robusta coffee beans have strong disease resistance, which helped Indonesia's coffee economy recover. Today, Indonesia is the world's largest producer of Robusta coffee beans, while Arabica coffee beans only account for 6%-10% of Indonesia's total coffee production, including the well-known Mandheling coffee beans. Robusta coffee beans are concentrated in southern Sumatra, while Arabica coffee beans are grown in northern Sumatra.

Indonesian Coffee Growing Environment

Indonesia has a typical tropical rainforest climate with an average annual temperature of 25-27°C, no distinct seasons, and annual precipitation of 1600-2200mm. Indonesia is located in a volcanic zone with fertile, mineral-rich soil that is favorable for coffee bean cultivation. Indonesia's elevation ranges from 900-2100 meters, with main coffee growing areas concentrated around 1200 meters.

Indonesian coffee beans have two main harvest seasons: the main harvest season is approximately from September to October, and the secondary harvest season is from May to June.

Java Island

Java holds an extremely important position in coffee history. Unlike most other Indonesian coffees that grow on small farms and undergo initial processing, Java coffee is grown on large farms or plantations, mostly operated by the government, using modern wet processing methods. The variety belongs to S795, locally called Jember, and is artificially cultivated.

Java produces refined, aromatic coffee with relatively low acidity, delicate mouthfeel, and good balance. The aroma and acidity of Java coffee are superior to those from Sumatra and Sulawesi islands. The best Java plantations include Blawan, Jambit, Kayumas, and Pankur. Java Mocha coffee is a blend of Java coffee and Yemen Mocha coffee.

Java coffee beans have refined aromatics, relatively low acidity, delicate texture, and good balance. The aroma and acidity of Java coffee beans are superior to those from Sumatra island. Java has a tropical rainforest climate, hot and humid year-round. The plains along the northern coast have the highest temperatures, while mountainous areas are much cooler. High humidity often creates a debilitating climate. Because it is located in a volcanic zone, Java's soil is very fertile.

Better quality coffee from Java Island is mostly located in West Java Province in the western part, a first-level administrative region of Indonesia. It usually comes from state-owned and private plantations. State-owned plantations, with government support, can more easily sell to European and American countries and have relatively greater fame. The plantations are basically above 1400 meters elevation, complemented by local typical volcanic soil, creating unique flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee · West Java Mount Malabar

Region: West Java, Indonesia

Elevation: 1400-1800 meters

Processing Method: Natural

Grade: G1

Variety: TIM TIM, Bourbon

Flavor: Berries, plum, citrus, cream, hazelnut, cane sugar, chocolate, oolong tea

Brewing Parameters: V60 dripper, water temperature 90°C, 15g coffee grounds, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size (BG#6S, 70-75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)

Perhaps sharp-eyed readers will notice that FrontStreet Coffee's grinding parameters for this Kenyan coffee bean are different from the previous bean. Each coffee bean has a different optimal grind size due to factors like variety, elevation, processing method, and roasting. Therefore, when FrontStreet Coffee receives a new roasted bean, it first screens it to determine the appropriate hand-drip grind size.

FrontStreet Coffee uses staged extraction: 30g water for 30-second bloom, then small water flow injection to 125g with a pause, continue injection to 225g when the water level drops to just expose the coffee bed, extraction time 2'00" (timing starts from bloom).

Sulawesi Island

The former name of Sulawesi Island is Celebes. Sulawesi is one of the oldest islands in the archipelago, with exposed rocks dating back over millions of years. Yellowish-red podzolic soils are found in coffee production areas. These soils often have several layers of clay beneath the surface, rich in iron content. The most famous region is Toraja, located in the highlands of South Sulawesi.

Kalosi, south of Toraja, is the main metropolitan area of this region, with two lesser-known areas: Mamasa to the west and Gowa south of Kalosi. A few particularly interesting coffee beans are wet-processed and worth exploring—highly recommended to try when available. The semi-washed processing method is commonly used in Sulawesi, and the area also produces many Robusta beans. This region's name is most often used to represent Sulawesi coffee, known for its full viscosity, rich flavors, and deep yet lively acidity.

Most Arabica beans are grown at high elevations around Tana Toraja, while Kalosi in the south has become a brand name.

Kalosi: A market name for coffee from southwestern Sulawesi island, named after the central town of Kalosi, which is the main trading center for Toraja coffee beans.

Toraja: A growing area in the southeastern highlands of Sulawesi and the name for the island's premium beans. Toraja is not a place name, city name, or variety name, but rather refers to the "Toraja" people skilled in coffee cultivation who live in the central mountainous region of Sulawesi. Toraja is also one of the world's rarest premium beans, with an annual production of about 1000 metric tons, distributed across rugged slopes at about 1200 meters elevation in central and southwestern Sulawesi. Cultivation and harvesting are difficult, with average annual yield per hectare of only 300kg, far below the average of over 1000kg in Central and South America.

Toraja's three major plantations include: "PT Kapal Api" with 2000 hectares of coffee gardens; "CSR" ranking second with 1100 hectares; and Japan's "Key Coffee" "Toarco Jaya" as the third largest with 700 hectares. In other words, Toraja is more precious and rare than Mandheling or Golden Mandheling.

Toraja is wet-processed or semi-washed, with brighter aromatic acidity than Sumatra's Mandheling or Golden Mandheling, and more distinct layers. It has rich caramel sweetness, but the earthy, woody notes and body are much more restrained than Mandheling, with slight floral aromas.

Indonesian Sumatra Province

In Sumatra, the best coffee comes from two places: in northern Sumatra's Central Aceh near Lake Tawar and the southern region around Lake Toba. Due to many small tenant farmers and their unique semi-washed processing methods and iron-deficient soil, coffee beans from this region have a distinctive blue color in the fresh green bean stage.

Mandheling

Refers to semi-dry or natural processed beans from the Lintong mountainous area at 900-1200 meters elevation on the southwest shore of Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra. The Batak people are the main coffee farmers in this area. It was once acclaimed as the world's fullest coffee beans. Mandheling is a trademark used for Arabica coffee from North Sumatra, produced in the Tapanuli region of northwest Sumatra, named after the Mandailing people. It has unique herbal and woody aromatic flavors.

Lintong Region

Lintong Mandheling, elevation 1200 to 1500 meters, comes from the most famous coffee in the Lake Toba area of North Sumatra island. To correctly understand Golden Mandheling coffee, not all golden-colored Mandheling is Golden Mandheling.

Golden Mandheling is produced in the Lintong area of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Harvesting is limited to fully manual single-cherry picking of fully ripe fruits to ensure initial bean selection quality. Coffee cherries undergo SEMI-WASHED processing, natural sun drying, and after hulling, undergo another drying refinement process, two green bean cleaning operations, and four Hand-Pick selection processes. Therefore, it can be called a strictly selected premium Mandheling coffee. Golden Mandheling marked "PWN" is the abbreviation of Indonesia's Pawani company, whose produced Golden Mandheling coffee is registered in Indonesia;

Lake Toba, located in central North Sumatra province. In 1888, Dutch colonialists moved "Java Mandheling" north to the Lake Toba region. Lintong in South Sumatra and the Lake Toba area can be called Mandheling, with Lintong being the actual Mandheling production area. Mandheling is produced from the mountainous areas around Lake Toba. This lake is geographically north of Medan, the capital of Sumatra island, and belongs to a high-altitude freshwater lake. Average height is about 900 meters above sea level. The commonly referred Mandheling refers to Typica or its variant coffee beans grown in the mountainous areas around Lake Toba. This lake is diamond-shaped, 100 kilometers long, 30 kilometers wide, covering an area of 1,130 square kilometers, with an average elevation of about 900 meters - making it the world's largest volcanic lake.

Lake Tawar, located in central Aceh Special Administrative Region. Situated at the northern tip of Sumatra island, most coffee produced in North Sumatra is Gayo, mainly of the ateng variety. The northern Lake Tawar can be called Aceh coffee or Lake Tawar coffee. Its area is less than one-tenth of Lake Toba. However, in recent years, coffee quality and production have surpassed Lake Toba.

Gayo Mountains, Aceh

Aceh, elevation 1110 to 1300 meters, is at the northernmost tip of Sumatra island. In Aceh province on the northern side of Sumatra island, Gayo coffee is grown on mountain slopes around the town of Takegon and Lake Tawar. Altitude in production areas averages between 1110 and 1300 meters. Coffee is grown by small tenant farmers under shade trees. Wet-processed coffee is cleaner but usually lacks Sumatra coffee's flavor characteristics. Traditionally processed coffee is similar to Sumatra Mandheling region coffee, with advantages showing unique flavors and deep yet lively viscosity.

Due to long-term political instability, Aceh is not a region that most people would visit. Gayo people are people with firm personalities, hardworking, with nearly 20% of coffee processors being women.

Because Mandheling coffee grows at low elevations with softer bean quality, FrontStreet Coffee mostly chooses medium-dark roasting to highlight its chocolate and caramel flavors and full-bodied texture. Therefore, it's quite suitable for both espresso and hand-drip brewing.

For hand-drip example, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a Kalita trapezoidal dripper or Kono dripper for brewing, because these drippers have slow flow rates and can provide a soaking effect. When brewing, use large water flow with slow pouring to reduce agitation, allowing it to extract through soaking, which can reduce the chance of over-extraction and increase its body and balance. Choose medium grind size, water temperature 86-88°C, and 1:13-1:14 coffee-to-water ratio.

FLORES

Flores is a small island about 320 kilometers (200 miles) east of Bali, one of the Indonesian islands, with elevation 1200 to 1700 meters. As a relatively late entrant to the coffee industry, it has developed a good reputation for coffee cultivation.

In the past, much of Flores' coffee production was for domestic consumption or mixed with other coffees for export, rarely sold directly as "Flores coffee." The island has active and dormant volcanoes, with Bajawa volcano's mixture having significant positive impact in main growing areas. In coffee processing, semi-washed processing is the most common method in the region, with some still using fully washed processing. Harvest period is from May to September.

Timur Island

Divided into East Timor and West Timor, originating in the early 20th century. East Timor has not used chemical agents and fertilizers for the past 25 years and should be the world's largest organic coffee producer. However, due to East Timor's political instability, export is difficult. Currently, most beans available for purchase are from West Timor.

Bali

Although part of Indonesian coffee, Bali's coffee farmers feel that Indonesian coffee quality is inconsistent and doesn't match Bali's premium coffee quality, so they established themselves as "Bali Coffee" to distinguish from Indonesian coffee. Bali island has not only Arabica coffee beans but also abundant Robusta coffee beans. According to sources, Bali Golden Coffee is grafted from the roots of Arabica coffee trees and branches/leaves of Robusta coffee, commonly known as the [Catimor] variety.

Coffee came to Bali relatively late, initially growing in the Kintamani highlands at 1000 to 1500 meters elevation. Coffee production was severely affected when Mount Agung erupted in 1963, causing over 20,000 deaths and widespread destruction in eastern Bali. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, to promote coffee production, the government distributed Arabica seedlings, though some believe this had limited effect as about 80% of the island's current production is Robusta beans. While tourism provides the largest income, agriculture employs the most people on the island, and Japan was traditionally the largest buyer. Harvest period is from May to October.

Luwak Coffee

Luwak coffee, from Bali, is not famous for its origin but for its unique processing method. A mammal called the civet cat eats ripe coffee cherries, digesting only the fruit pulp while the extremely hard coffee beans are excreted. After manual selection, cleaning, sun-drying, deodorization, screening, processing, and roasting, it becomes "civet coffee." Due to its limited production and rare, special taste, this coffee is one of the world's rarest and most expensive coffees.

Now some companies simply create a product also called "Kopi Luwak" by artificially raising and feeding coffee cherries to civet cats. Wild civet cats are captured and kept in iron cages for three years, constantly fed and excreting coffee beans, many suffering from malnutrition, psychological trauma (zoochosis), and other issues, unable to adapt to nature and dying.

FrontStreet Coffee tells you how Luwak coffee should be brewed:

Medium grind, 15g coffee grounds, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature 86~88°C

1. Moisten the filter paper

2. Add coffee grounds, tap gently to level

3. Pour 30g water for 30-second bloom

4. Pour in circular motion to extract to 125g, pause briefly

5. Slowly pour in circular motion again to 225g

6. Wait for water to completely drain, remove the dripper and enjoy

Soil Types

In Aceh, Bali, Papua, and Flores highlands, soil is mainly Andosols, with the naming rule coming from Japanese words "an" (black) and "do" (soil). These fresh soils come from volcanic mud and are highly fertile, containing important trace nutrients. For Arabica coffee in Java and Lintong regions, soil is a combination of Andosols and Umbrisols. Umbrisols are weathered volcanic soils with brown podzolic characteristics, mixed with considerable organic materials.

Varieties

There are over 20 varieties of Arabica coffee circulating in Indonesia's commercial market. Common ones include Catuai, Catimor, Timor hybrid, Typica, Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa, and Sidikalong. The most famous is Typica, the original cultivated variety introduced by the Dutch. When Indonesian coffee suffered from leaf rust attacks, many Typica varieties disappeared in the late 1880s. However, in Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Flores, especially at high elevations and remote areas, the Bergandal and Sidikalang local Typica varieties can still be found.

Another variety is Longberry Mandheling, also called TimTim, a bean from Indonesia. Due to its long shape, many people call it "horse face bean" or "long Mandheling." Actually, Tim Tim is not a pure variety but a natural hybrid of Arabica and Robusta coffee trees. This variety was discovered on Timor island in the 1940s and was cultivated due to its natural disease resistance. In the Americas, this variety is called Hybrido de Timor, abbreviated as Tim Tim. In Indonesia, this variety is also called Bor Bor.

After coffee beans are sorted by size, some producers store the coffee for one to three years before sale. This process gives the coffee a very mild and warm character with woody and cinnamon flavors. Fresh beans gradually change color from dark yellow to brown.

Processing Methods

The three main processing methods are: natural drying, semi-washed, and fully washed. Due to humid climate and frequent rainfall, wet-hulling is commonly used for more efficient drying. Most coffee farmers only harvest fully red coffee cherries. After collecting coffee cherries in the morning, they remove the pulp and fruit flesh in the afternoon. Sumatra's natural environment is excellent, with most water used being mountain spring water.

1. Remove coffee fruit skin, place parchment beans in water-filled barrels or tanks, scoop out floating defective parchment beans.

2. Clean the dense parchment beans that sink to the bottom, place them in barrels or plastic bags for brief dry fermentation, allowing the mucilage sugars on the seed coat surface to ferment and develop flavor. Basically, longer fermentation time results in stronger acidity. Fermentation time varies by person, generally only a few hours, but some estates omit the dry fermentation stage and directly sun-dry parchment beans to reduce acidity and increase viscosity, allowing mucilage sugars to fully ferment to enhance flavor. Usually fermentation time is between 12-36 hours, depending on specific conditions.

3. Sun-dry parchment beans for one to two days until bean moisture content reaches 30%-50%, beans are still semi-hard semi-soft, use a hulling machine to remove the parchment and continue drying. About two days until moisture content reaches 12%-13%, then collect coffee beans into woven bags, usually 40kg and 80kg per bag, and send to coffee processing plants for hulling. The process is completed in about four days.

Risk of wet-hulling: Beans are easily damaged and split like goat hooves, with increased chances of mold, fungi, and yeast contamination.

Green Bean Grading

Defective beans are an important factor that destroys final coffee flavor. Therefore, the final step in green bean processing is to remove defective beans. So grading is based on defect percentage, supplemented by sieve size. Due to the rise of specialty coffee trends, coffee-producing countries increasingly focus on coffee quality, and controlling defective beans is the most important approach. Therefore, using defect percentage as a grading method or supplementary basis is becoming more common. Indonesian coffee beans use this defect percentage grading method, mainly divided into 6 levels, G1-G6.

Grading by defect rate (based on 300g), Grade standards:

G1 Grade1 Total defects less than 11

G2 Grade2 Total defects greater than 12 less than 25

G3 Grade3 Total defects greater than 26 less than 44

G4a Grade4a Total defects greater than 45 less than 60

G4b Grade4b Total defects greater than 61 less than 80

G5 Grade5 Total defects greater than 81 less than 150

G6 Grade6 Total defects greater than 151 less than 225

India

Indian coffee cultivation is mainly located in southern regions with mountainous terrain abundant in moisture, at elevations of 800-1600 meters. Very few coffee-producing regions in the world have such rich varieties as this place: forests, herbaceous plants, shrubs, flowers, and animal groups form a spectacular paradise. Summers are generally tropical climate, winters are quite cool, providing an excellent environment for all coffee farmers. Coffee flowering is a magnificent spectacle worth experiencing personally - one can see white flowers dotting the landscape throughout the flowering season, emitting enticing aromas, with bees and butterflies dancing among the flowers. The entire region's coffee flowers spread out like a white sea of flowers, like jewels on the coffee farmers' crown.

Production Status

You might not imagine that India produces much more coffee than Ethiopia and any Central American country - 900,000 hectares of land are planted with coffee beans. India has about 140,000 coffee farms, with over 90% of farms covering less than 10 acres, belonging to small-scale cultivation. These farms are distributed along the southern and eastern coastal mountain ranges, with annual production between 440,000-450,000 bags, making it the world's fifth-largest coffee producer. Nearly 80% of India's coffee production is exported to Germany, Russia, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, United States, Japan, Greece, Netherlands, France, Italy, and other places. Most exported coffee beans are transported through the Suez Canal.

Production Regions

Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu are India's main coffee-producing regions, together accounting for over 90% of national coffee production. Today, India's coffee is 2/3 Robusta, with Arabica only accounting for 1/3. Coffee is mainly distributed in southwestern Karnataka, with both varieties grown, accounting for 50% of India's total coffee production. Southern Kerala focuses on Robusta, accounting for 30% of total production. Southeastern Tamil Nadu grows both varieties, accounting for 10% of India's total coffee production. The remaining 10% is distributed among emerging northern regions.

Cultivated Varieties

[Kent]

A Typica hybrid variety discovered in 1911 at Kent coffee plantation in India's Mysore region, created by crossing S288 with Typica. It has high yield and rust resistance characteristics. The coffee aroma is fuller than Bourbon varieties and has been introduced to new world-producing countries like Kenya and Indonesia, making outstanding contributions.

[S795]

This variety was hybridized in 1940s in India using Kent (a Typica selection, tall, high-yield, extremely rust-resistant) and Liberica (Coffea Liberica). In 1955, the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI) named it Jember, widely planted in India, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. This variety has some resistance to coffee leaf rust, but resistance decreases over time. It has maple syrup or brown sugar-like flavors. S795 is currently India's main variety, accounting for 70% of total Arabica production.

[S274]

India's most famous small-seed Robusta, marketed as Robusta Kappi Royal, is the world's most noble Robusta. This Kappi Royal, size 16/17, has a clean surface, hard bean quality, and plump, beautiful appearance. Compared to ordinary natural Robusta, Kaapi Royal has no stimulating astringency, earthy taste, or even rubber flavor. Some say it has Japanese genmaicha flavor. Apparently, drinking it alone doesn't quite taste like coffee - very tea-like with high viscosity.

[Sln C×R]

This is India's latest espresso blend, breaking from the Arabica and Robusta hybrid tradition, instead crossing Congensis with Robusta, i.e., Congensis×Robusta. Currently, this coffee has entered the American specialty coffee scene, using natural processing. It tastes of Indian spices with slight fruity acidity - reportedly a quite alternative experience. Sln C×R is expected to become a strong competitor to Monsooned Malabar and Royal Robusta.

Processing Methods

Monsooned Malabar - A Marvelous Creation from the Age of Discovery

As early as the seventeenth century, India was already an important European coffee supply region besides Yemen's Mocha port. At that time, most Indian coffee beans were transported by sailing ships on voyages lasting about six months to the European continent.

During the long half-year voyage, due to sea breezes and absorption of moisture and saltiness from the ship's cabin, coffee beans changed in both appearance and flavor: green beans gradually turned from deep green to rice-like yellowish-brown, and beans also expanded and became larger.

The coffee's fruit acidity is smoothed out during this process, replaced by developing nut, caramel, and tea aromas (this ripening flavor transformation is somewhat similar to Sumatra's aged beans), as well as thick texture. Indian monsooned beans indeed have their unique flavor, usually tasting of rich nuts and grain sweetness with almost no acidity, often carrying genmaicha aroma. Apparently, Northern Europeans at that time particularly favored this special golden coffee.

Coffee traders skilled in business, of course, sensed market consumer demand. Interestingly, when the Suez Canal opened in 1869, plus the advent of steamships at that time, travel time from India to Europe was significantly reduced - theoretically a great advantage for merchants selling Indian coffee. Unexpectedly, European customers instead complained that the coffee had lost its flavor, leading to sharp order declines.

Investigating why old customers stopped buying, it turned out that because the canal opened, making the voyage too short - just two to three months of transport time meant the flavor didn't have time to "mature." Without the sea breeze enhancement, gourmets didn't love it! Only then did merchants realize that this accidental deliciousness was actually a masterpiece co-created by the ocean and time.

Thus, this magical country invented the world's unique cheat-code processing - monsooning method.

Monsooned coffee must be made from natural processed beans. All processing plants for monsooned coffee face west to receive the humid monsoon winds from the southwest sea. Coffee beans are spread in monsooning fields with all windows open. After monsooning to a certain degree, they are bagged. But because beans expand considerably during the process, coffee bags cannot be filled too full, nor stacked too densely to avoid mold growth from poor ventilation. Coffee beans must also be periodically poured out and burlap bags changed to prevent mold growth - quite a time-consuming and labor-intensive project.

Monsoon coffee is stored in special warehouses until the monsoon arrives. The ventilation structure design allows humid monsoon winds to circulate among coffee beans, causing them to expand and develop full-bodied but intense moldy aromas.

The monsooning period is about twelve to sixteen weeks. After maturing, they undergo smoking treatment to drive away weevils, followed by manual bean sorting to remove beans that haven't turned golden. After three to four months of monsooning, green coffee beans expand one to two times in size with reduced weight and density.

The monsooning process is labor-intensive: coffee is spread in special ventilated warehouses, raked or turned by hand to allow beans to absorb moisture from the humid air. The entire process lasts 12 to 16 weeks, during which beans expand to twice their original volume and take on a dull golden color. Then additional processing removes incompletely expanded beans, with remaining beans ready for export.

Although monsooned Malabar coffee beans appear large and plump, they are actually soft despite their strong appearance - a change resulting from months of weathering. Long-term exposure to humid monsoon winds for weeks not only turns beans yellow but also significantly reduces the coffee's natural acidity, creating a very special mouthfeel. Indian Malabar coffee beans are not only suitable for single-origin drinking but also excellent for blending espresso.

FrontStreet Coffee chooses medium-dark roasting for Malabar coffee, but due to special processing, the roasted color is particularly light, with baking coloration differing significantly from normal roasting levels.

FrontStreet Coffee · Indian Monsooned Malabar Coffee

Region: Malabar Coast, Southern India

Elevation: 1100-1200 meters

Varieties: Kents, S795, Catimor, Selection 9

Processing Method: Monsooned Natural Processing

Brewing Parameters: Kono dripper, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15g coffee grounds, medium-fine grind (70-75% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)

The brewing technique uses staged extraction: 30g water for 30-second bloom, small water flow injection to 125g, pause, then continue injection to 225g to finish. Total extraction time is 2 minutes.

Flavor: Rich caramel, raisins, herbal notes, genmaicha-like mouthfeel, with berry finish.

Vietnam

The Origin of Vietnamese Coffee

Vietnamese coffee was brought to Vietnam around 1860 by French Jesuit missionaries. In nearly 150 years of history, Vietnam has gradually developed its unique coffee culture. Today, from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to the mountain town of Sapa on the Vietnam-China border, walking the streets, you can often see canvas canopies or sunshades clustered along roadsides, with reclining chairs, hammocks, or even small stools facing the road. On short tables beside them sit simple aluminum drip filters. People sit, lie, or prop up their feet, sipping (experience this, not drinking, sipping, or licking - must be sipping) capheda (iced coffee). When the coffee is finished, half a pack of cigarettes is also smoked away, and a morning or 2/3 of an afternoon is thus idled away.

Strolling through Vietnamese streets, coffee shops of all sizes are everywhere. Ordinary Vietnamese people use Vietnamese coffee pots to slowly drip coffee, leisurely passing an afternoon. Vietnamese coffee drinking doesn't use coffee pots for brewing but requires special drip coffee cups to "drip."

Many countries are famous for unique coffee cultures - Italy, France, United States, Turkey each has their own origins and traditions, but Vietnam is still somewhat different. In Vietnam, a cup of coffee costs from 10,000 to 50,000 Vietnamese dong, with most small shops not exceeding 20,000 Vietnamese dong - roughly equivalent to the price of a bottle of mineral water. Compared to domestic bitter, hard-to-swallow lattes costing thirty to forty yuan, this is simply paradise for coffee lovers.

The Most Traditional

Drip Sweetened Condensed Milk Coffee

Vietnam was once a French colony, and the romantic, enjoyment-loving French brought coffee culture here. Many years have passed, but Vietnamese people still maintain this ancient method of drinking coffee - drip. The method is simple: sprinkle coffee grounds on the press plate of the drip cup, press down firmly, pour in hot water, and then patiently wait for coffee to slowly drip drop by drop from fine holes. However, the resulting coffee color is extremely black and very bitter - few people can enjoy such bitter coffee.

Creative Vietnamese people pour thick sweetened condensed milk at the bottom of the cup - this modification created a magical pairing effect: the intense sweetness of condensed milk and Vietnamese coffee's bitterness are truly a natural match. The sweetness is unimaginably strong but doesn't blend with the black coffee's bitterness. Sweet and bitter two flavors coexist between the teeth. I hear that friends who have been to Vietnam never forget that taste.

The Most Special

Egg White Coffee

Like signature cocktails made with spirits and egg whites, coffee can also be paired with egg whites - this is egg white coffee that can only be tasted in Vietnam. Some jokingly call it "Vietnamese cappuccino." Coffee shop owners skillfully separate eggs into yolks and whites. Egg whites are quickly whisked in high-speed mixers until frothy. The ideal state for egg whites is showing fine textures, then coffee just covering the cup bottom is poured in. Carefully taste this specially crafted delicacy - the coffee's bitterness neutralizes the eggy smell, while egg whites enhance the coffee's aroma - great satisfaction.

The Most Refreshing

Yogurt Coffee

In Vietnam, most restaurants and drink shops don't have air conditioning. Imagine you've been walking under 37-degree sun for half an hour and enter a restaurant without air conditioning - you probably won't have much appetite for enjoying food. Start with a refreshing yogurt coffee to whet your appetite.

Coffee's biggest fear is turning sour, but Vietnamese people mix yogurt and coffee, and the taste is surprisingly good. A cup of yogurt coffee reveals different layers of details - coffee's acidity, aroma, and sweetness. It's refreshing and light, and one sip of such delicate flavor changes is irresistible. Additionally, Vietnamese yogurt is praised by all travelers who have been there: thick texture, sweet taste, perfect with coffee.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473