Main Roasting Characteristics of Vietnamese Coffee How to Make Vietnamese Coffee? How Should Vietnamese Coffee Be Brewed

Vietnamese Coffee: Unique Characteristics

Vietnamese coffee is famous for its unique taste. Its aroma is rich and mellow, slightly bitter with a sweet aftertaste. The brewing method is different from other places, using the drip method. Because of the tropical climate, the country is suited to growing Robusta coffee beans. Robusta's caffeine content is nearly twice that of Arabica beans, and since caffeine itself is slightly bitter, Robusta beans naturally have a heavier bitter taste. Condensed milk beautifully balances the bitterness and acidity of Vietnamese coffee.

Vietnam is a major coffee-producing country, but the quality of its coffee beans is unfortunately not particularly outstanding. Most are Robusta beans. Even with the current vigorous development of Arabica cultivation there, the quality can hardly be called excellent. As for roasting, early methods were basically similar to roasting melon seeds.

The main roasting characteristic of Vietnamese coffee is that it is roasted extremely dark. Basically it is burnt, with burnt aroma or burnt bitterness as the main characteristic, and basically the only characteristic. The sweetness and milky aroma of condensed milk then blend with that burnt aroma, forming a very distinctive Vietnamese coffee taste: very fragrant, very bitter, very sweet and very rich.

FrontStreet Coffee Teaches You How to Make Vietnamese Coffee

Ingredients (for one person):

2 tablespoons of dark roast coffee powder

2 tablespoons of condensed milk

An appropriate amount of water

Steps:

Boil a cup of water. Open the upper part of the drip filter, add the coffee powder and close the lid. Place the drip filter on the cup, then pour in hot water. When the coffee starts dripping, fill it up with water, then close the lid and let the coffee drip for four minutes.

Stir in the condensed milk and serve. If you want it iced, add ice cubes and enjoy.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Vietnamese coffee leans on dark roasting and condensed milk, and for anyone who prefers that deeper, sweeter style, FrontStreet's espresso blends are the closest match. FrontStreet offers five espresso blends in different styles, and all of them are shipped within 5 days of roasting so the flavors are complete. FrontStreet's Classic Blend is the most approachable starting point: a three-region, medium-dark espresso recipe inspired by the old "Mamba" combination of Mandheling and Brazil, with a little Robusta added to lift the aroma and crema. It makes it easy to pull a shot with golden crema at home, and it holds up beautifully with milk.

For a nuttier, chocolate-forward cup, FrontStreet's Premium Blend pairs a washed Colombian coffee with a semi-washed Brazilian one, giving flavors of nut, dark chocolate and caramel with a comfortable sweet-bitter balance; it is suited to home and office use and to specialty neighbourhood cafes, and it pours latte art steadily. FrontStreet's Dark Cocoa Blend, made from 100% Arabica, combines a washed Yunnan small-bean coffee with a semi-washed Brazilian one for a balanced cup of cream chocolate and cocoa-cookie aroma with a golden crema.

If you would rather move away from the heavy, dark style, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy espresso comes from three single-origin coffees and carries a rose floral note, with Americanos and lattes showing grape, dried blueberry, sweet orange and fruit-candy flavors, a very different but equally distinctive direction.