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cafes at every corner, with small Vietnam, while coffee could also be the beginning and
tables and stools just on the side- the end of everything.
walk. In the morning, a group of Drinking coffee is not a posh habit in Vietnam, the
men either watch news or check average price of a coffee in cafés is 35,000-45,000 Dong
their cellphones with a glass of (about 10-13 RMB) and price can go lower if you buy a
coffee in front of them. In the cup in a street café. Traditional Vietnam coffee, dark
daytime, they go to cafes to drink roasted Robusta, made with the help of local coffee pot,
one more cup when in need of Phin, is the most popular drink around here. Put a layer
energy. In the afternoon, they of condensed milk at the bottom of glass, then add ice
prefer to meet friends in coffee to the coffee, stir with a bar spoon; this is why waiters
shops, drinking and chatting on the serve coffee with a spoon in the glass – to stir. The con-
road for a while. Even if it is a big densed milk ice coffee seems to be very heavy for for-
family, they would like to chat and eigners, however, it is regarded as the real coffee by
play at coffee shops’ tables, ordering Vietnamese. It seems that heavy flavor of peanuts to-
coffee or lemon tea for everyone. gether with bitter Robusta taste are an integral part of
While in other countries people en- Nam’s people lives. Specialty what? Most of Vietnamese
joy various types of coffees, here in people do not really understand this definition, some
Vietnam, they are all magically re- even don’t think of specialty coffee as a real coffee. The
placed by condensed milk ice coffee. traditional Robusta coffee with condensed milk seems
You can see traditional cafés to be the heart and soul of coffee culture in Vietnam.
almost anywhere: on the streets One more magical place in Vietnam coffee scene
and lanes, in run-down buildings, are roasted beans’ shops, where only tiny half of a shelf
next to Starbucks, on a roof or on is occupied by teas. The beans are displayed in transpar-
a balcony; sometimes several stools ent jars or cabinets and sold by weight. It is very
at the entrance of alley can be similar to a selling-teas stand in China: low price,
considered as a café, too. These simplicity, transparence and big variety. Customers
traditional cafes seem to be vital come to buy several kilos of beans so casually as if they
for the country: a cafe is the begin- are buying eggs for breakfast.
ning and the end of the day in Balconies seem like a symbol of unknown and
interesting world, which is deep-
ly constructed in local reality.
Walking on the main road, raise
your head and look at the balco-
nies: it seems like people have
been enjoying their coffee sur-
rounded by green trees forever.
Due to being the second biggest
city and economic center, Ho Chi
Minh City is always mistaken for
the capital of Vietnam, although
Vietnamese prefer to call the city
Saigon. French culture influenced
local cuisine and coffee culture a
lot, and as a result you will find
European-style gastronomy al-
most everywhere. Thanks to our
local friends, who helped us to
look for traditional cafes, we were
lucky to visit some rare Vietnamese
specialty coffee shops, most of
which are very young. But as young
people in every country are same,
willing to try new things and stay
open, Vietnamese specialty coffee
can always count on them in devel-
oping new coffee scene.

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