{"id":29640,"date":"2018-09-25T11:55:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T01:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures?p=29640&preview=true&preview_id=29640"},"modified":"2024-09-18T16:39:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T06:39:06","slug":"vietnamese-coffee-will-change-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/vietnamese-coffee-will-change-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnamese coffee will change your life. Here\u2019s why."},"content":{"rendered":"

Hear the words \u2018world\u2019s best coffee\u2019 and it\u2019s likely you think of an espresso in a tiny cup, downed in one gulp by a George Clooney-esque gent at a coffee counter in Italy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or maybe you picture hessian bags filled with the finest roasted beans lugged over the shoulder of a shirtless Colombian farmer. Or perhaps you imagine bespectacled penny farthing aficionados downing double-shot soy lattes in a Melbourne caf\u00e9, as they twirl their moustaches and discuss inner-city rooftop beehives. Point is, it\u2019s unlikely Hanoi, capital of\u00a0Vietnam<\/a>, springs to mind.<\/p>\n

EXPLORE VIETNAM ON A SMALL GROUP ADVENTURE WITH INTREPID NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But it was in Hanoi,\u00a0on a recent trip<\/a>, that I guzzled some of the best coffee I\u2019ve had in years. It wasn\u2019t my usual caf\u00e9 latte either. In the sticky heat of the Vietnam summer, I imbibed\u00a0caf\u00e9 sua da<\/em>, aka a Vietnamese iced coffee, at any and every opportunity. Coarsely ground beans are loaded into a drip filter, which ever-so-slowly spits out super-strong coffee, one drop at a time, into the waiting cup below (good things take time, right?). Add some ice cubes and a couple of tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk and you\u2019ve got a very delicious,\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0caffeinated chilled cup of joe.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more to Hanoi than the refreshing icy brew. Much, much more. On my final afternoon in Vietnam, after I\u2019d strolled around Hoan Kiem Lake forlornly wondering how I was going to get through my days breakfasting on muesli rather than pho and sitting on a chair rather than a tiny stool when I returned home, I remembered there was still one coffee left to try, and one caf\u00e9 in which to try it.<\/p>\n

\"Ho

Photo by Patrick O’Neill<\/p><\/div>\n

Giang Caf\u00e9, situated in a blink-and-you\u2019ll-miss-it alley in Hanoi, has been serving up its specialty brew for over 70 years (albeit in different parts of the city). But what is it that has tourists shunning more \u2018comfortable\u2019 coffee establishments and locals giving said tourists the hairy eyeball when they can\u2019t get a table at the narrow two-storey caf\u00e9?\u00a0Ca phe trung<\/em>. Egg coffee.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a06 REASONS VIETNAM IS THE PERFECT DESTINATION FOR FIRST-TIME TRAVELLERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

After zig-zagging through the streets of the Old Quarter, my coffee-drinking accomplice and I stand on the footpath looking up at the sign, checking the blue dot on the map on our phones, peering down the alley \u2013 this has got to the be the place, right? So famous is Giang that several rival cafes have opened their own similarly named coffee houses, or emblazoned their street-front blackboards with \u2018Original egg coffee served here!\u2019 or \u2018Best egg coffee in Hanoi!!!\u2019. But based on the stream of people going in and out of the narrow passage, we\u2019re certain we\u2019re in the right place.<\/p>\n

A surly man behind a cash register glares at us when we arrive; a blender whizzes noisily in the small kitchen behind him. \u201cTable for two?\u201d we gesture. He waves us up the staircase nonchalantly, with a flick of his wrist.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a06 COMMON SCAMS IN VIETNAM (& HOW TO AVOID THEM)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The small upstairs area is rammed. Low tables, surrounded by even lower stools, are crowded with all sorts: men in business suits, their jackets folded carefully over briefcases and shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows; fresh-faced backpackers flicking through dog-eared travel tomes; one young couple who, we\u2019re sure, met the night before and are continuing their holiday romance over a cup of the city\u2019s famous beverage. We settle ourselves at a table in the corner, order two iced egg coffees, and wait.<\/p>\n

\"Street

Photo by John Bill<\/p><\/div>\n

Due to the scarcity of fresh milk in Vietnam (because of a lack of cows and difficulty in keeping milk cool in the pre-refrigeration days), coffee drinkers had to get creative. A whisked egg here, a dollop of condensed milk there, the occasional knob of butter and cheese, have all been credited with the\u00a0ca phe truong<\/em>\u2019s deliciousness. And delicious it is.\u00a0 A young waiter, deftly balancing a tray of 15 or so drinks, ambles through the crowd of eager faces, finally arriving at our table. \u201cCa phe truong,<\/em>\u201d he announces, placing the two beverages in front of us before disappearing down the stairs.<\/p>\n

RELATED: A DAY IN HANOI, VIETNAM: YOUR GO-TO GUIDE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

We peer into our glasses, like a pair of archaeologists at an excavation site. One third is taken up by a layer of caramel-coloured coffee, followed by a smattering of ice cubes, pressed close against the glass. Then, the\u00a0piece de resistance<\/em>: the whipped egg concoction. Perfected in 1946 by Nyugen Giang (the inventor of the drink and founder of the caf\u00e9, which is now run by his son), the custard-like mixture is made up of egg yolks, coffee powder, condensed milk, butter and cheese (although exact quantities are a closely guarded secret). We stir it all together, clink together our glasses, and take a sip.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s to die for; more of a dessert than a thirst-quenching pick-me-up. As we drink, we hypothesise about the couple sitting across the room. When did they meet? It must have been last night. Where are they from? Bratislava and Iceland, obviously. Do they even share a common language? Who needs words when you\u2019re in love? The waiter moves around the room, delivering iced and hot coffees (served in a mug, sitting in a small bowl of hot water, to keep the drink at just the right temperature) as patrons come and go.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO INTREPID\u2019S NEWSLETTER FOR TRAVEL TIPS, COMPETITIONS, GIVEAWAYS & MORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

After scraping the last of the coffee-eggy-deliciousness from our glasses with a spoon, we hoist our backpacks on and head down the stairs and out onto the busy Hanoi street. Bikes, hundreds of them, zoom by, as bicycles laden with helium balloons, rice cookers and market-fresh flowers slowly wheel by. This city never stops. Must be all the caffeine.<\/p>\n

Drink all the coffee in Vietnam<\/a> on an Intrepid small group adventure. You\u2019ll like it a latte!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feature image by\u00a0Vietnam Stock Images, Shutterstock.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vietnamese coffee. I’ve bean thinking about you a latte.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15582,"featured_media":29677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[455,9],"tags":[2181,180,400,246,385,41],"class_list":["post-29640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-food","tag-18-to-29s","tag-asia","tag-coffee","tag-hanoi","tag-south-east-asia","tag-vietnam","ipf_theme-18-to-29s","ipf_region-vietnam"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVietnamese Coffee Will Change Your Life. 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