Vietnamese coffee

[NDA]

I just ordered and received some Vietnamese coffee.... Not sure I could live with it full time, but it is excellent. Slightly choclatey in flavour. A big change from my normal Ecuadorian brew.

Any experts here? I have not come across their coffees before.

[SammyW]

I'm no expert and not a massive coffee drinker generally, but I loved the stuff with a little condensed milk when I visited Vietnam. It was very sweet and probably instant for all I know but very nice nevertheless.

[NDA]

SammyW said:

I'm no expert and not a massive coffee drinker generally, but I loved the stuff with a little condensed milk when I visited Vietnam. It was very sweet and probably instant for all I know but very nice nevertheless.

I've read a little bit and it wouldn't have been instant you had.... They put condensed milk in the bottom of a glass and then drip/percolate real coffee on top. I'm told they often serve it with a green tea 'chaser'.

[sjwb]

Wonderful and very different coffee.

Have a look at this website; # 5 is the one that I have.
www.trung-nguyen-online.co.uk/

Try making it in the phinn filter. It totally changes the character from the espresso method.

[W99KSY]

NDA said:

I just ordered and received some Vietnamese coffee.... Not sure I could live with it full time, but it is excellent. Slightly choclatey in flavour. A big change from my normal Ecuadorian brew.

Any experts here? I have not come across their coffees before.

The Vietnamese coffee you've got is more than likely Robusta, whereas the Ecuadorian is probably the arabica bean. Vietnam is a pretty big origin in terms of global supply but is usually blended with arabicas in your standard jar of nescafe in Europe. Not often you see a single sourced bag of robusta for sale in the UK as it tends to be the more fruity arabicas that find their way there. Italian, Greek, Turkish coffee tends to be where you find more robusta blends in Europe...Think the caffine content has a bit more kick and works better in their espressos ;-)

[NDA]

sjwb said:

Wonderful and very different coffee.

Have a look at this website; # 5 is the one that I have.
www.trung-nguyen-online.co.uk/

Try making it in the phinn filter. It totally changes the character from the espresso method.

That's the site I ordered from as it happens.... I ordered number 1 and 8.

[devnull]

I have one of these when I go to Tampopo. Great flavour, and adds a little bit of theatre to your average cup. Would like to get my hands on one of the metal filters you put on top of the cup.

[NDA]

devnull said:

I have one of these when I go to Tampopo. Great flavour, and adds a little bit of theatre to your average cup. Would like to get my hands on one of the metal filters you put on top of the cup.

Here you go.... Bottom of the page...

http://www.caphevn.co.uk/buy-vietnamese-coffee-onl...

[74merc]

W99KSY said:

The Vietnamese coffee you've got is more than likely Robusta, whereas the Ecuadorian is probably the arabica bean. Vietnam is a pretty big origin in terms of global supply but is usually blended with arabicas in your standard jar of nescafe in Europe. Not often you see a single sourced bag of robusta for sale in the UK as it tends to be the more fruity arabicas that find their way there. Italian, Greek, Turkish coffee tends to be where you find more robusta blends in Europe...Think the caffine content has a bit more kick and works better in their espressos ;-)

Robusta plants grow at a lower altitude to arabica, I don't think Vietnam has any really high mountains so you are probably on the money there. Caffeine is actually a natural insecticide and there are more insects at lower altitudes, so robusta beans have a higher caffeine content.

Vietnamese coffee over ice is delicious too!