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Vietnamese Coffee Tasting Guide: Best Vietnamese Coffee Bean Brands & Prices

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange platform. For comprehensive coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). Drip coffee gained popularity in France during the early twentieth century and was subsequently introduced to Vietnam through French colonial influence. The traditional drip coffee method, established during the French colonial period, produces a rich, mellow flavor that became highly sought after in French restaurants of that era. This brewing technique continues to be featured in French cinema and remains a cultural staple in Vietnam today.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange, more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

Vietnamese Coffee Beans

"Vietnam has three treasures": Ao Dai, coffee, and motorcycles.

A standard Saigon-style evening should be riding a motorcycle out, finding a coffee stall to sit down, sipping coffee while watching the streets full of Ao Dai girls.

Vietnamese Coffee Documentary

The Origin of Vietnamese Coffee Beans

Vietnamese coffee was introduced 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, the largest city in the south, to the mountain town of Sapa on the Sino-Vietnamese border, walking through the streets, you can often see canvas canopies or umbrellas clustered by the roadside, with road-facing lounge chairs, hammocks, or even small stools underneath. On a low table beside them sits a simple aluminum drip filter. People sit, lie, or prop up their feet, sipping (imagine this, not drinking, not sipping, not licking, it must be sipping) capheda (iced coffee), while pointing at passing girls or the motorcycle collision that just happened across the street. When the coffee is finished, half a pack of cigarettes is smoked, and a morning or 2/3 of an afternoon is whittled away.

Walking on the streets of Vietnam, coffee shops of all sizes can be seen everywhere. Ordinary Vietnamese people will slowly drip-filter coffee with a Vietnamese coffee pot to spend a leisurely afternoon. The way to drink Vietnamese coffee is not to brew it with a coffee pot, but to "drip" it with a special drip coffee cup.

There are quite a few countries known for their unique coffee culture. Italy, France, the United States, and Turkey all have their own origins and traditions, but Vietnam is still a bit different. In Vietnam, the price of a cup of coffee ranges from 10,000 to 50,000 Vietnamese dong, with most small shops not exceeding 20,000 Vietnamese dong, which is equivalent to the price of a bottle of mineral water. Compared to the domestic price of thirty or forty yuan for a bitter and hard-to-swallow latte, this is simply a paradise for coffee lovers.

Vietnamese coffee can hardly be called a culture; it is the daily life of local people. Flip-flops, tank tops, and plastic short stools are the "good companions" of Vietnamese coffee. Who needs a finely decorated coffee bar? Set up a stall, with three or five people sitting around a table, and this is their own Starbucks. It is said that Vietnam has the lowest unemployment rate in the world, but I wonder if hanging around in coffee shops counts as work?

If You Travel to Vietnam, Don't Miss These Types of Coffee

The Most Traditional: Drip Condensed Milk Coffee

Vietnam was once a French colony. The romantic and enjoyment-loving French brought coffee culture here. After so many years, Vietnamese people still maintain this ancient method of drinking coffee—dripping. The method is very simple: sprinkle coffee powder on the press plate of the drip cup, press it tightly, pour in hot water, and then patiently wait for the coffee to slowly drip down from the small holes drop by drop. However, the resulting coffee is extremely dark and very bitter, and few people can enjoy such bitter coffee.

▲ This coffee is also called "dripping gold," which quite fits the Chinese saying "an inch of time is an inch of gold." What drips down drop by drop is not only mellow coffee but also wonderful time.

Creative Vietnamese people pour a thick layer of condensed milk at the bottom of the cup. This improvement has produced a magical pairing effect: the rich sweetness of condensed milk and the bitterness of Vietnamese coffee are truly a natural match. The sweetness is unimaginably strong, yet it doesn't blend with the bitterness of black coffee. Sweetness and bitterness coexist between the teeth. I heard that friends who have been to Vietnam can never forget that taste.

The Most Special: Egg White Coffee

Just like specialty cocktails made with base liquor and egg whites, coffee can also be paired with egg whites. This is the egg white coffee that can only be tasted in Vietnam. Some people jokingly call it "Vietnamese cappuccino." The coffee shop owner skillfully separates the egg yolk and egg white from fresh eggs. The egg white liquid is quickly beaten to foam in a high-speed mixer. The ideal state of egg white is when fine lines appear. Then pour in just enough coffee to cover the bottom of the cup, carefully taste this specially prepared delicacy, the bitterness of the coffee neutralizes the eggy smell, and the egg white also enhances the aroma of the coffee~ great satisfaction.

▲ Grab a street-side egg white coffee to go

The Most Refreshing: Yogurt Coffee

In Vietnam, most restaurants and drink shops do not have air conditioning. Imagine you've been walking under the 37-degree sun for half a day and entered a restaurant without air conditioning. You probably don't have much appetite to enjoy food, so let's start with a refreshing yogurt coffee to whet your appetite.

The most feared thing for coffee is sourness, but Vietnamese people mix yogurt and coffee, and the taste is surprisingly good. A cup of yogurt coffee allows you to taste the different levels of details in coffee's acidity, aroma, and sweetness. It's refreshing and burden-free to drink, and such delicate flavor changes will make you addicted with just one sip. Additionally, Vietnamese yogurt is also praised by all travelers who have been there: thick texture, sweet taste, perfect with coffee.

Those unnamed small coffee shops can bring surprises to travelers, not only because you can drink an incredibly delicious cup of coffee for the price of a bottle of mineral water, but also because of the experience that the shop owner has figured out through day-after-day life and repeated brewing. This is what we call the spirit of craftsmanship.

Street-side coffee is a city scene in Vietnam. I know that if you love hanging out in cafes and taking photos, you won't be satisfied with cheap street coffee. Those distinctive small coffee shops will definitely add color to your trip!

Hoi An

Hoi An Roastery

According to word-of-mouth from travelers returning from Vietnam, this place has the best coffee in Hoi An. Not only is the coffee excellent, but the restaurant's atmosphere is also quite nice. Just looking at the large bag of raw coffee beans at the entrance tells you the taste must be authentic!

The shop is located in the old town of Hoi An. The price of specialty coffee in the scenic area is only a dozen yuan, quite touching.

▲ The menu features the Vietnamese specialty coffees introduced earlier. The second item marked "condensed milk" is condensed milk.

In addition to specialty coffee, espresso and cappuccino are also made very well. Additionally, the accompanying apple pie dessert is delicious.

The decoration style in the shop combines tradition and modernity, very comfortable. If you're tired from walking, just sit here. Anyway, the weather is hot, drinking coffee and enjoying the scenery is very pleasant~

The shop staff is very friendly. You can even go to the back kitchen to watch the staff hand-select beans! Their coffee beans are hand-picked by local farmers, not mechanically operated. Harvested once a year, generally only 60% are ripe beans. Hand-picking ensures that every bean is mature. Hoi An Roastery roasts coffee beans themselves, and after roasting, they will sort them again. Other beans like soybeans will definitely not be added. If you also love making your own coffee, you can also buy a bag of pure coffee beans to take home~

Address: 135 Tran Phu, Hoi An 560000, Vietnam

Phone: +84 511927772

Business hours: 7:00 a.m - 10:00 p.m

Da Lat

La Viet

This American-style modern factory shop is completely different from the noisy and messy street scene of Da Lat. Several roasting machines start simultaneously in the glass house, equipped with dedicated roasters, supplying large quantities of raw and roasted beans to various parts of Vietnam and even overseas customers. Rather than a coffee shop, it's more like a huge coffee processing plant and a museum of various coffee brewing tools. A real "front shop, back factory"! Ensuring every sip you drink is the freshest flavor.

The shop's facade is actually not large, but if curious people walk in, they will find that there is a different world inside. It's definitely a boutique coffee shop worth spending an afternoon enjoying.

Don't mistake the owner for a foreigner; she's actually a genuine Vietnamese beauty. If you chat enthusiastically, the owner will recommend other specialty coffee shops to you and even write a note for you! Trust that locals' recommendations will never be wrong!

At LA VIET, you can not only drink various kinds of coffee but also try making a cup yourself. I believe not many coffee shops can offer such an experience~

The coffee price in the shop is also around 40,000 Vietnamese dong, which is still a friendly price of a dozen yuan in RMB. With such a storefront and quality, it easily surpasses many domestic places!

Address: 200 Nguyen Cong Tru, Da Lat, Vietnam

Phone: +84 (063) 3981189

Business hours: 7:00 a.m - 10:00 p.m

Ho Chi Minh

Klassik Coffee Roasters

If you're not interested in the popular attractions in Ho Chi Minh, why not try a different way of traveling? A boutique coffee shop can become your must-visit destination for this stop! The shop is exquisite and small, and the two-story layout doesn't feel crowded. The semi-open bar not only allows you to communicate with the barista and choose your favorite flavor but also see the entire coffee-making process.

The second-floor space is more spacious, and the window seats can overlook the riverside streets. Enjoying the breeze and sipping coffee, consider it a bonus on your journey!

This shop's specialty is capturing coffee from all over the world. The shop is not large, but it offers more than ten varieties of single-origin beans from various coffee-growing regions worldwide. The menu has Chinese and English side by side. If you don't know the name of a variety, check it before ordering.

A Guatemalan Geisha, which costs only 30 yuan in RMB (note: Geisha has extremely low yield and is the new king of specialty coffee), is already the most expensive item in the shop, so feel free to try it!

The shop also sells various drip pots. The price is naturally much higher than at street markets, but the advantage is more colors and better materials.

Address: Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam

Business hours: 7:00 a.m - 10:00 p.m

Final Tips

Wear Flip-Flops to Drink Vietnamese Coffee

It feels the best!

Don't ask why! Haha!

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse varieties of beans. You can find various famous and unknown beans, and they also provide online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com