Everywhere you go - everywhere - there is coffee. It's generally dark, thick, and potent, with enough caffeine to jumpstart your brain whether it's 5:30am or 11pm (general coffee drinking hours). I have to steer clear of it after about 7, or, as I learned, it's enough to keep me up late into the night.
I've literally never seen anything like this, in regards to general coffee consumption, but after thinking about it and living the coffee life for 5 months, I think I'm beginning to get it.
Click through to learn a little about a few of the most mandatory local coffee drinks, reliable chains, and how to know if your street coffee contains margarine...
My first cup in Vietnam. It was... basic. Naturally, I got it at a Gloria Jeans at the Mall. |
Note: There is actually a Starbucks here in HCMC now, which opened to great fanfare earlier this year. The prices are similar to USD (which means it's utterly, unbelievably expensive relative to the average Vietnamese income) and even people that have gone there say it's just for the status symbol - the coffee itself, I'm sad to say, is apparently still burnt-tasting. This is reported to me by habitual coffee drinking Vietnamese co-workers - I haven't been myself.
This is the traditional little contraption that brews your coffee at your table. |
The coffee itself was something that needed a little getting used to, but thank goodness I did.
For one thing, as I mentioned, this stuff is THICK and BITTER, as it's initially brewed. But that's not enough - a classically ideal vietnamese dish complements many of the different tastes simultaneously. What? Improve on coffee? It can be done, folks, and this is how:
Daaaaaaaamnnnnnnnnn. |
It takes about 5-10 minutes for the hot water to percolate through the coffee, the two sieves, and into the cup. Get a load of how thick and crazy this coffee is - if it were a wine, it would get you drunk it two sips - look at those legs!
Saturday Morning at the coffee shop: Ca phe da and a pineapple smoothie. Mmm. |
This desire for balance in Vietnamese dishes leads to a whole packet of cane sugar being poured into the hot, steeped cup of coffee (itself only a few fluid ounces) just after it's done seeping through the little contraption. So now we're left with a sugary, bitter, thick brew - very good on it's own... but who wants to drink hot coffee when it's 90 degrees out??
So naturally, this mixture is then poured over a tall glass of ice. Over the course of 30 minutes or so - the ideal coffee break - the hot, cold, bitter, and sweet all come down to a refreshing, perfectly balanced cup of iced coffee. If you wait a little longer, it's liable to water itself down too much, so be wary. Myself... well, I don't mind the extra water, because my body needs water constantly to maintain it's naturally fantastic sweat gland production. This coffee drink is called Ca Phe Da (Iced Black Coffee).
Technically this is a "Coffee Culi" at Highlands, but it's just essentially a ca phe sua da that's been layered. Stir and it's the same. |
Of course, many Vietnamese are bored with this, or find it unpalatable for some reason or other. There's also this: Ca Phe Sua Da (Iced Black Coffee with Milk). It's a misnomer - this is not really milk, it's sweetened condensed milk. The result is COFFEE CANDY, PEOPLE.
Of course, it makes me fart a lot, being lactose intolerant, so I only get it when I'm about to go into the classes with my naughtiest children. I cannot deny I get a kick out of crop-dusting the aisles and watching them blame each other. Am I a teenager at heart? Maybe.
(Yes, I said that. I consider it the "pufferfish defense.")
There are also all sorts of unholy concoctions that are trending at various times. One of them is, horribly, Jelly Coffee. It's ca phe sua da with chunks of gelatin in it. It's horrendous. Don't do it. They don't even eat the jelly. It doesn't even dissolve, or whatever. It's just... ugh. Just don't.
Cafe Sonate's patio. |
The best cafes, however, are the ones off the beaten path. Those cafes that exist in back alleys, with groves of bamboo protecting you from the outside air or waterfalls running over stones as you sip, the ones that offer great coffee AND a fantastic escape from the hustle, bustle, and pollution of the normal city... those are the ones that make you sit back, sigh, and think: man, I've really got it made right now. Let your worries float away, order that extra orange juice on ice (cam vat), and love your life.
The Vine's patio. |
And... how to tell if your street coffee has margarine in it? Easy. Does it taste like chocolate frosting distilled through a vat of oil? Margarine. Easy way to save money, I guess. Still, gross.
So yeah, coffee. Vietnam. Get into it. You won't be disappointed, I promise.
I am reading this while drinking my own cup of coffee (Starbucks of course lol) and man Ben..it sounds so good!! I can imagine it gives you an insane coffee buzz! I wonder if the beans are grown differently there? Or if its just super strong based on the way they serve it? A combination of both I assume.
ReplyDeleteLove you and miss you! I am raising my coffee cup and thinking about you!
~Ally
I'll raise a cup to you too!! It's a fantastic cup of joe... just not what we're used to. :) The beans are grown normally, it's just the fact that it's so many beans to so little water - very potent. And damn delicious. :)
DeleteI had a vietnamese iced coffee last night with dinner! with a banh mi, of course, my solution for a delicious meal and an ode to my brother at the same time. It's the super-satisfying equivalent of pouring one out for you.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!! I have to ask, what kind of Banh Mi? You win at odes, for sure!! And don't ever literally pour that out, there's precious little of it. ;)
DeletePork & pate :)
DeleteCOFFEE CANDY!!!! I would like to ingest.
ReplyDeleteI have one link for you: http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=vietnamese+coffee&find_loc=San+Francisco%2C+CA Please check out and report back!
DeleteIt's unbelievably awesome. Promise.
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