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

Vietnamese Coffee Beans

Vietnam is said to have three treasures: the Ao Dai, coffee, and motorcycles.

A standard Saigon evening means riding a motorcycle out, finding a coffee stall to sit down at, sipping coffee, and watching the streets full of girls in Ao Dai drift by.

Vietnamese Coffee Documentary

The Origin of Vietnamese Coffee Beans

Coffee was introduced to Vietnam around 1860 by French Jesuit missionaries. Over nearly 150 years, Vietnam has gradually developed its own coffee culture. Today, from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to the mountain town of Sapa on the Chinese border, walking through the streets you will often see canvas canopies or umbrellas clustered by the roadside, with lounge chairs, hammocks, or even small stools beneath them. On a low table beside them sits a simple aluminum drip filter. People sit, lie, or prop up their feet, sipping caphe da (iced coffee) while pointing at passing girls or the motorcycle collision that just happened across the street. When the coffee is finished and half a pack of cigarettes is smoked, a morning or 2/3 of an afternoon has slipped away.

Walking the streets of Vietnam, coffee shops of all sizes are everywhere. Ordinary Vietnamese people slowly drip-filter their coffee through a Vietnamese pot to spend a leisurely afternoon. The way to drink Vietnamese coffee is not to brew it in a pot, but to drip it through a special drip cup.

There are quite a few countries known for a distinctive coffee culture. Italy, France, the United States, and Turkey all have their own traditions, but Vietnam is a little different. A cup of coffee in Vietnam ranges from 10,000 to 50,000 Vietnamese dong, with most small shops charging no more than 20,000 dong, about the price of a bottle of mineral water. Compared with a bitter, hard-to-swallow latte costing thirty or forty yuan back home, 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 stools are the constant companions of Vietnamese coffee. Who needs a finely decorated coffee bar? Set up a stall, seat three or five people around a table, and this is their own Starbucks. Vietnam is said to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world, though it is unclear whether hanging around 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, and the romantic, pleasure-loving French brought coffee culture here. After so many years, Vietnamese people still keep this ancient way of drinking coffee: dripping. The method is simple. Sprinkle coffee powder onto the press plate of the drip cup, press it tight, pour in hot water, and then wait patiently for the coffee to drip slowly, drop by drop, through the small holes. The result, however, is extremely dark and very bitter, and few people can enjoy coffee quite so bitter.

This coffee is also called "dripping gold," which fits the old saying that 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 drinkers pour a thick layer of condensed milk into the bottom of the cup. This improvement produces a magical pairing: the rich sweetness of condensed milk and the bitterness of Vietnamese coffee are a natural match. The sweetness is unbelievably strong, yet it does not blend with the bitterness of black coffee; sweet and bitter coexist between the teeth. Friends who have been to Vietnam say they can never forget that taste.

The Most Special: Egg White Coffee

Just as specialty cocktails are made with a base liquor and egg white, coffee can be paired with egg white too. This is egg white coffee, which can only be tasted in Vietnam, jokingly called the "Vietnamese cappuccino." The shop owner skillfully separates the yolk and white from fresh eggs. The egg white is beaten to a foam in a high-speed mixer, ideally until fine lines appear. Then just enough coffee is poured in to cover the bottom of the cup. Taste this specially prepared delicacy carefully: the bitterness of the coffee neutralizes the eggy smell, and the egg white 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 walking for half a day under a 37-degree sun and walking into a restaurant without air conditioning. You probably have little appetite for food, so start with a refreshing yogurt coffee to whet it.

The worst thing for coffee is sourness, yet Vietnamese people mix yogurt and coffee, and the taste is surprisingly good. A cup of yogurt coffee lets you taste different levels of detail in coffee's acidity, aroma, and sweetness. It is refreshing and light to drink, and such delicate flavor changes will make you addicted after one sip. Vietnamese yogurt is also praised by travelers who have been there: thick in texture, sweet in taste, and perfect with coffee.

Those unnamed little 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 the owner has built up through day after day of life and repeated brewing. This is what we call the spirit of craftsmanship.

Street-side coffee is a city scene in Vietnam. If you love hanging out in cafes and taking photos, you will not be satisfied with cheap street coffee alone. Those distinctive little 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 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, which is 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, the espresso and cappuccino are also made very well, and the accompanying apple pie dessert is delicious.

The decor combines tradition and modernity and feels very comfortable. If you are tired from walking, just sit here. The weather is hot anyway, so drinking coffee and enjoying the scenery is very pleasant.

The staff are very friendly. You can even go to the back kitchen to watch them hand-select beans. Their coffee beans are hand-picked by local farmers rather than processed mechanically. Harvested once a year, generally only 60% are ripe beans, and hand-picking ensures every bean is mature. Hoi An Roastery roasts its own coffee and sorts the beans again after roasting. Other beans such as soybeans are definitely not added. If you also love making your own coffee, you can 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, messy street scene of Da Lat. Several roasting machines run at once inside the glass house, tended by dedicated roasters, supplying large quantities of raw and roasted beans to customers across Vietnam and overseas. Rather than a coffee shop, it is more like a huge coffee processing plant and a museum of brewing tools, a true "front shop, back factory" that ensures every sip you drink is the freshest flavor.

The facade is actually not large, but curious visitors who walk in will find a different world inside. It is definitely a boutique coffee shop worth spending an afternoon in.

Do not mistake the owner for a foreigner; she is a genuine Vietnamese beauty. If you chat enthusiastically, she will recommend other specialty coffee shops and even write a note for you. Trust that a local's recommendation is never wrong.

At La Viet you can not only drink various kinds of coffee but also try making a cup yourself. Not many coffee shops offer such an experience.

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

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 the popular attractions in Ho Chi Minh do not interest you, 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 never feels crowded. The semi-open bar lets you talk with the barista and choose your favorite flavor while watching the entire coffee-making process.

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

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

A Guatemalan Geisha, which costs only 30 yuan in RMB (note: Geisha has an 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.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Vietnam's drip coffee culture has you craving a stronger, sweeter brew at home, FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level single origins are an easy introduction to the world's major regions. Their washed Yirgacheffe and natural Sidamo Huakui show the floral, fruity side of Ethiopia, while the Indonesian wet-hulled Mandheling and the Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon offer the low-acid, full-bodied style that suits a phin filter or moka pot. For a daily cup that mirrors Vietnam's robust character, the PWN Golden Mandheling is the boldest option.