Vietnam Coffee Industry

[Rowley]

Anyone have business with Vietnam?

Recent reports show a growth with instant coffee, from the nation that to me defines a coffee that is untouches by machines or speed. Vietnamese Coffee Receipe is a good case in point, still made today with just a tin filter.

 

[Think Coffee and Teas]

I would also know who else does business with Vietnam.

I am Vietnamese and growing up my dad always drank his coffee with a french press and condensed milk at the bottom and I ended up doing the same as I grew up and started drinking coffee. I never realized that there was an actual name for it and people called it "Vietnamese Coffee" Condensed milk makes the coffee taste so much better than regular sugar and milk, try it out with your dark roast coffee, it can't be beaten. Anyways, that's my story and now I sell coffee for a living.

If you have a chance, please take a peak at my website and let me know what you think(see sig). I'd love to meet some eager business people too so don't be afraid to send an IM my way. Merry christmas everyone!

 

[vinacafe]

Vietnam Coffee

I do business with a couple of different coffee growers in Vietnam. Mostly family owned farms in the Central Highlands. If you'ld like some information. Just drop me an email.

I'm not Vietnamese, but I've spent time living in Vietnam near Hoan Kiem Lake when I worked with agriculture, coffee and irrigation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the time.

I like the old Cafe Sua Da as well, the old french press style made with condensed milk on ice.

Cheers!

 

[thecoinguy1955]

cafe da

I have it almost every day using Trung Nguyen in the brown box. It's wonderful.

If anyone knows where to buy TN in this country please let me know.

Otherwise I'm about to send some $$ for a new shipment from Vietnam.

Rgrds
TP

 

[lindswigz]

coinguy- just in case you havent't found trung nguyen in the us yet they have it at cafecolony.com , not in a brown box but in a red tin...hope that helps!

 

[thecoinguy1955]

Thank you! But the red tin isn't what I want and can get that. I did find a supplier for the brown box and bought a 6 month supply! I may even buy some more and offer it on my wifes website http://www.vietventures.com but not sure yet.

Thank you a lot though for mentioning it.

Rgrds
Tom

 

[lindswigz]

Maybe you can explain to me better what vietnamese coffee actually is. Someone told me that the coffee grown in vietnam is actually of a different species than arabica or robusta called catimor or something . Or is it the brewing method in the traditional drip brewer what makes it special and unique . If the beans are in fact of another species as I have heard I would love to find some green or even whole bean to try. Any insight to help me better understand Vietnamese coffee.

 

[thecoinguy1955]

No idea about the technical stuff. I just know it tastes good.

The difference between the brown box trung nguyen and regular coffee is the difference between a vintage Porto and a cheap gallo gallon type wine.

 

[lbrault]

Vietnamese coffee

Vietnam has a long history of coffee production that was encouraged and refined by the French about maybe 70 years ago. At one time the primary emphasis was on top quality coffee, then after decades of war, when coffee production was once again resumed heavily in the 90s, the emphasis was on production of green beans for sale on the world commodities market.

In the 1990's Vietnam became once again a competitor to Brazil for world's largest exporting country, but the coffee glut at that time caused severe financial depradation for the growers due to plummeting prices. However some entrepreneurial companies took advantage of the new freedoms to band together growers and roasters and packaging to become all-in-one coffee producers. The result was fabulous quality and flavor and much higher, more stable prices for the growers.

The Cafe du Monde that is produced by a company in Louisiana is an example of the French influence and French tastes. If you like French roast with chicory, its a fine drink, and is popular with a lot of Vietnamese and their restaurants in the USA.

Indigenous producers create a much higher quality coffee, however, and Trung Nguyen is the first company to take control of its process to the point of identifying specific varietals, encouraging their production in ideal locations, then taking the beans (4 varieties - robusta, arabica, chari and catimor) and combining them into different blends for different tastes.

I spent months looking for what I thought was the best coffee and when I found Trung Nguyen in an asian supermarket I fell in love. After being frustrated in finding it I contacted the company and began importing it myself.

The brown box is their House Blend, the four varieties. The can is a "premium house blend". The bags are called Creation coffees and are different blends of 1-4 of the coffees, including some that are "culi" (pea-beans, unsplit). They also are the company that makes the "Weasel" enzyme treated coffee that you hear about.

The Vietnamese are actually the main pioneers of Robusta. But their Robusta is so much better than the Robusta beans produced elsewhere for the economy market that, to me, they aren't really the same coffee at all.

The little one-cup filters that are popular in coffeeshops make an incredibly rich-flavored brew (about 5 ounces) and they are a little tricky to use but now that I am used to mine it's my favorite way to brew it.

More info can be found on www.trung-nguyen-online.com or do a search for Trung Nguyen coffees, there is a lot of interesting history there as well.
I hope this answers some questions on Vietnamese coffees. I'm writing a piece on how to use the little brewer-filters... it was hard for me to find information on it, so I think this might help others avoid all my trial-and-error.

 

[thecoinguy1955]

PM sent

 

[[email protected]]

I have been importing Trung Nguyen for the Austyralian market for almost a year. Once most people try the coffee they are hooked. The main problem is that most people think coffee comes from Italy. The Espresso industry dominates public thinking to a great extent.

 

[lbrault]

BTW Chari and Catimor are two of the varieties that grow well in Vietnam. Usually they are used to add body or breadth in house blends. By themselves they don't really make a balanced cup.

One good example of a Chari/Arabica mix is the low-caffeine Passiona from Trung Nguyen. Apparently Chari is naturally low in caffeine and this blend is surprisingly good, I find it to be a superior alternative to decafs, for anybody who is not super-sensitive to caffeine.

 

[cafe]

coffee

I have my family member (my sister) in Vietnam that grow coffee, also she knows how to roast the coffee which is very good (in my opinion, the coffee is better than Trung Nguyen). Some of her friends in Saigon always buy her coffee and really love it. She just start as a small family own business that sell locally. Any suggestion??? should I import that coffee to US and sell it or should I learn how to roast it and roast the coffee in US and sell it here. I also have a web site available, how do I advertise that coffee.

Thank so much for any advise.

 

[smartcamel]

Re: coffee

[quote:b32cf063b7=\"cafe\"]I have my family member (my sister) in Vietnam that grow coffee, also she knows how to roast the coffee which is very good (in my opinion, the coffee is better than Trung Nguyen). Some of her friends in Saigon always buy her coffee and really love it. She just start as a small family own business that sell locally. Any suggestion??? should I import that coffee to US and sell it or should I learn how to roast it and roast the coffee in US and sell it here. I also have a web site available, how do I advertise that coffee.

Thank so much for any advise.[/quote:b32cf063b7]

Dear cafe

It is great to hear that your sister can roast the coffee better than trung quyen. If possible, please give me your sister contact. I would like to contact her for my business. I tried all trung quyen coffee but it is not what i am looking for.