What's the Difference Between Drip Pot Coffee and Regular Coffee_ What Coffee Beans Are Best for Drip Pot Coffee

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Vietnamese Coffee: Understanding Its Unique Characteristics

Vietnamese coffee is renowned worldwide for its distinctive flavor profile, featuring rich, mellow aromas with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Its unique brewing method has led many to equate Vietnamese coffee with drip coffee. Even if you've never visited Vietnam, you've likely seen or tasted drip coffee, but Vietnamese coffee may be more intriguing than you imagine.

1. Why does Vietnamese coffee taste different from typical Western coffee?

This is because Vietnam primarily produces Robusta coffee beans, while most Western coffee is made from Brazilian Arabica beans. Vietnam's hot and humid tropical climate is ideal for growing Robusta coffee beans, which contain nearly twice as much caffeine as Arabica beans. Since caffeine itself is slightly bitter, Robusta beans naturally have a heavier, more bitter taste.

2. Why are Vietnamese drip coffee filters so small, only brewing one serving at a time?

It's not that Vietnamese people dislike large coffee servings or sharing—they didn't intentionally make stainless steel or aluminum coffee pots "selfish." This actually relates to the caffeine content mentioned earlier. Because the flavor is strong and bitter, it's not suitable to drink excessive amounts at once. A typical Vietnamese drip coffee filter brews 4-6 ounces of black coffee, which is more suitable for savoring slowly. Meanwhile, to accommodate the slow-drip brewing method, Vietnamese coffee beans are generally roasted slightly longer, making the flavor richer. However, this also makes the bitterness more prominent, so even coffee enthusiasts accustomed to espresso might not be able to drink too much at once.

3. Why does Vietnamese coffee use sweetened condensed milk instead of fresh milk?

The use of condensed milk serves two purposes: first, the heavily sweetened condensed milk beautifully balances the bitterness and acidity of Vietnamese coffee beans; second, Vietnam lacks fresh milk sources. When the French brought coffee beans to Vietnam, they couldn't transport easily spoiled fresh milk over long distances by sea. Therefore, they chose the more easily transportable condensed milk as an alternative, which later became a distinctive feature of Vietnamese coffee.

4. Why isn't iced coffee mixed with cold water, and why do servers bring the entire glass of ice?

In Vietnam, if you order coffee without specifying hot coffee, chances are the server will automatically bring you iced coffee. Unlike typical iced coffee in tea restaurants, Vietnamese iced coffee isn't first mixed with cold water. Some say the ice helps reduce the bitterness, but I believe weather is the main reason. After all, in Vietnam's scorching heat, drinking fully iced coffee is much more satisfying.

5. Why shouldn't you drink Vietnamese coffee from roadside stalls?

Of course, authentic street flavors are worth recommending, but roadside coffee stalls or small shops should be chosen carefully. Recently, Vietnam's food safety authorities discovered that much of the coffee sold by street vendors is actually caffeine-free fake coffee. To save costs, some vendors mix chestnut powder, soy flour, or even coffee-flavored chemicals with low-quality coffee in an attempt to deceive customers. Therefore, when encountering unreasonably cheap coffee (under VND 15,000), you should be extra cautious. For health reasons, it's safer to visit familiar coffee shops or chains like Trung Nguyen, Highland, Passio, or Thuc Coffee.

Actually, Vietnamese drip coffee is very simple to brew. If you have the chance to visit Vietnam, be sure to buy some local coffee powder and a drip filter—whether as souvenirs or for brewing at home—and savor the unique taste of drip coffee.

Recommended Drip Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted single-origin drip coffee beans offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality, suitable for various brewing methods. More importantly, they offer exceptional value—a half-pound (227g) bag costs only around 80-90 RMB. Calculating at 200ml per cup with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, one bag can make 15 cups of specialty coffee, with each cup costing only 5-6 RMB. Compared to café prices that often reach tens of RMB per cup, this represents excellent value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A Guangzhou-based roastery with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, offering both famous and lesser-known beans, plus online service. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473