Vietnam´s Caffeine Buzz

We scout the streets of Ho Chi Minh City for the best brews

Meet the friendly
staff at AQ Café

A place to watch the world pass by over the top of a crisply folded newspaper; a place for catching up with good friends after shopping; or your neighbourhood joint around the corner that provides that much-needed caffeine fix. Ever since the establishment of coffee houses in Europe during the 17th century, cafés have been a focal point for city life.

Images of café culture may evoke the continent and its chic establishments, but in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), enjoying cà phê, or coffee, is as quintessentially Vietnamese as the traditional conical hat and bicycle. Cafés line every street: from plastic seats dotted around a street-side kiosk to sleek up-market haunts for the well-heeled urbanite, coffee is the social backbone of the city.

Hardly surprising, as coffee is the most widely traded commodity after petroleum and Vietnam is one of the largest coffee producers in the world, second only to Brazil.

A pot of coffee
beans at AQ
Café

Although perceived as a relative newcomer to the scene, coffee has been grown here since the late 19th century when French colonists brought the first seedlings to Vietnam’s central highlands. The plants require a large amount of rainfall and only grow in the tropics, so Vietnam’s topography and humid equatorial climate provide the ideal conditions for cultivation.

Vietnam was a major exporter until the escalation of the Vietnam War halted production, but it slowly re-entered the world market again in the early 1980s. Once the US – the world’s largest importer of coffee – lifted trade sanctions on the country in 1995, coffee production exploded. Vietnam predominantly produces Robusta: larger than the other principal variety, Arabica, it also contains twice the amount of caffeine (possibly accounting for Ho Chi Minh’s frenetic energy).

The original
Vietnamese street
café
A shot of the thick, hot syrup certainly provides a pick-up, but the days of choosing between cà phê (black coffee) or cà phê s a (with sweetened condensed milk) are long gone. Menus offer an ever-expanding range of exotic takes on the humble cup, and Ho Chi Minh has a wealth of sophisticated hideaways for the discerning drinker to discover their favourite caffeine kick.

Trung Nguyen bills itself as Vietnam’s premier coffee company, selling its speciality beans at innumerable outlets around the city. A good spot to sip is at their outlet opposite the exclusive Diamond Plaza department store in the centre of town (7 Nguyen Van Chiem, District 1, tel: +84 (8) 825 8531). Dotted with fairy lights and leafy tropical plants, this is a great place to rest those tired pins after a round of shopping. Their extensive menu includes everything from Culi Robusta – a sharp, black Vietnamese cup – to Passiona – light and fragrant with chocolate tones – which comes highly recommended. But for a real local experience try the Legendee. The weasel is renowned for selecting the juiciest and ripest berries to eat from the coffee plant, and the baristas say the passage through the animal’s digestive tract enhances the flavour of the beans. Elsewhere, this delicacy will set you back a pretty penny, but Trung Nguyen serves up a steaming strainer-full for just VND20,000 (AU$1.59) or VND22,000 (AU$1.75) with milk.

Coffee and tea
Vietnamese style’.
Vietnamese coffee is traditionally served in a drip filter – coffee grinds are placed in a metal sieve over a glass, and hot water is then poured onto the powder while the coffee streams through the sieve into the glass. Once the coffee is filtered it’s customary to add ice – a piping hot coffee isn’t so appealing when it’s hitting 37°C. One of the best places to sample cà phê s a da (iced milk coffee) is at AQ Café (39 Mac Dinh Chi, District 1, tel: +84 (8) 829 8344), which specialises in the Ngoc Phung brand – both Arabica and Robusta beans are roasted together in a traditional handmade earthenware oven until they develop a rich reddish-brown colour, and when poured the coffee has a velvety-smooth texture and distinctive aroma.

Whipping up sweet
treats at Ciao Café
An AQ regular who much prefers Vietnamese coffee to varieties
served in the west is Canadian expat Fred Wissink, who says: “This is
good Vietnamese strength – not quite as strong as you get on the street,
but it’s full-bodied and smooth, with a strong aftertaste. And the condensed
milk gives it that creamy sweetness. Much better than the European stuff.
It just tastes watered down.” At AQ, a cup of cà phê s a, hot or iced,
costs VND18,000 (AU$1.43) and a kilo of beans to go is a mere VND50,000
(AU$3.97).

For those who like their coffee straight up, funky Ciao Café is a perennial favourite (40 Ngo Duc Ke, District 1, tel: +84 (8) 829 1491). Located close to the main sights and near major thoroughfare Dong Khoi, this is one of a chain and arguably the best. Blending kitsch and comfort, the décor manages to be both bright yet soothing, and a casual selection from the wall-to-wall bookshelves make settling into the deep chocolate leather couches that much easier. Here, a quick half-hour coffee can easily turn into a long, lazy afternoon.

Beans to go
at Ciao Café
“People love the cà phê á [iced black coffee],” enthuses barista Ho Xuan
Thao. “We buy all our beans from the local Ben Thanh market. It’s really
good quality highland coffee, and our customers can’t get enough of it!”

Ciao also serves a selection of European-style coffee, including mocha, latte, macchiato, and Viennois from VND22,000–27,000 (AU$1.75– $2.15). But for something a bit stronger, Thao recommends the Royal Coffee – served with a dash of cognac for VND45,000 (AU$3.58).

Liquor coffees crop up fairly consistently on most café menus. Le Thi Le Thi, barista at the seductive I-Box café (135 Hai Ba Trung, tel: +84 (8) 825 6718), says the most intoxicating drink she serves is the Bomb and Coffee at VND65,000 (AU$5.12).

“It has a shot of Kahlua and a shot of Bailey’s Irish cream in the bottom,” she explains. “Then we add cream and coffee. Here we use Thoi Vinh coffee – we buy it locally. It’s delicious.”

Bright and breezy Ciao Café
I-Box is a decadent space with a distinctly intimate feel: blending deep red, floor-length curtains, muted brown marble-effect walls with beaded, Tiffany-style and leopard skin lampshades, the venue is as romantic as the soundtrack. Vietnamese cafés have a tendency to crank up the music, but here the chilled out ballads are played at just the right volume to complement cosy conversation.

Most cafés will specialise in one local brand, but Chateau Phuc Long (15-17 Phan Chu Chinh, District 1, tel: +84 (8) 263 0377) has the widest and most intriguing selection in Ho Chi Minh. Situated across from Ben Thanh market, French vanilla, cinnamon, almond and rum-flavoured beans are just a few varieties the adventurous drinker can sample.

The upstairs
loft
at AQ Café
Barista Ngoc Hau recommends the Rainay Latte – a two-layered milk and
speciality coffee for VND15,000 (AU$1.18); or the Buon Me Thuoc
Moka – a
unique bean infused with a distinctively chocolatey taste for
VND8,000 hot (AU$0.63) or VND12,000 iced (AU$0.94). Brands of highland
coffee like Vietnam Blue and Vietnam Mandheling also grace the menu, but
the flavoured beans are a must-try – Phuc Long adds the flavour during
the production process, whereas other cafés use a standard blend and add
a flavoured syrup. And the best bit is, once you’ve found your favourite,
all varieties on the menu are available to buy by the bag. Phuc Long’s
most decadent offering is the Mochaccino – layers of chocolate, coffee,
and fresh milk topped by frothed milk.

But Mojo café (88 Dong Khoi, tel: +84 (8) 827 2828) takes the cake for the ultimate in sweet tooth satisfaction. Located in one of Ho Chi Minh’s most up-market establishments and geared towards tourists and affluent locals, the décor is slick and chic, and the alfresco tables are perfectly poised for people-watching. For the ultimate indulgence, try their Rumba Frappé: espresso coffee, fresh milk, whipped cream swirled with sugar syrup, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce (VND69,000; AU$5.48). Probably the most mouthwatering way to enjoy quality Vietnamese coffee.

WORDS GEMMA PRICE
PHOTOGRAPHY FRED WISSINK