There's no such thing as a quick cup of coffee in Vietnam, where communing with friends over a glass or two is a social ritual on par with the handshake in the West.
"It's all about the conversation, chewing the fat, watching the world go by," says Mark Lowerson, an Australian English-language-class coordinator and culinary-tour guide who has lived in Hanoi for seven years. "We (Westerners) can be at one with our coffee whereas Vietnamese will enjoy it much more among friends."
Coffee -- along with baguettes and crème caramel -- is a culinary holdover of French colonial rule (French-administered Indochina was established in 1887 and dissolved in 1954), when coffee plants were introduced to Vietnam's central highlands by French missionaries. Production dropped off during the Vietnam War but resumed in the 1980s; today Vietnam, which grows primarily robusta but also arabica and small amounts of lesser-known varieties, is one of the world's largest producers.
Usually brewed into a glass at the table using excruciatingly slow single-cup drip filters called ca phe phin, Vietnamese coffee is mixed with sugar and sweetened condensed milk and poured over ice; the resulting concoction is called ca phe sua da (if you prefer yours hot, ask for ca phe sua nong; in Vietnam even black coffee is usually drunk with sugar). It's a burly but smooth brew with a hint of chocolate, a flavor that comes from roasting beans with "butter oil" (clarified butter, margarine or vegetable oil) and sometimes sugar, as well as with other ingredients whose identities are closely guarded by roasters (fish sauce is rumored to be one).
In Vietnam, tea is for drinking at home, while coffee is for enjoying at a cafe. That word may be applied to anything from three tiny plastic stools clustered on the sidewalk in front of a shed to the outlets of upmarket homegrown coffee-shop chains such as Trung Nguyen and Highlands.
Most small operators pride themselves on serving coffee with its own unique flavor, so coffee tasting in Vietnam is a great adventure. "I go to certain cafes for a certain cup because that's the flavor I feel like at the time," says Mr. Lowerson, who likes to find a perch with a good view of Vietnam's frenetic street life.
Though he hesitates to recommend any particular Hanoi cafe, Mr. Lowerson does have some advice for the coffee loving visitor: "Just pull up a stool anywhere, sip the sweetness and watch the passing parade."
Glossary
Ca phe sua da: iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk
Ca phe sua nong: hot coffee with milk
Ca phe da: iced coffee with sugar only
Ca phe nong: hot coffee with sugar only
Where to find a good cupPublish Post
A good-to-stellar glass of ca phe sua da is literally never more than a block away in Vietnam, though Ho Chi Minh City boasts more three-stool sidewalk "cafes" than the capital city of Hanoi. If you prefer a proper cafe, the Trung Nguyen and Highlands cafes are always a good bet. Both have branches all over Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
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