There was never any coffee in my house growing up. My father never drank it and my mother only drank it on Sundays when she took us to see our grandparents and then to church. My grandmother would always make a big pot and right next to it was a partially opened can of Carnation sweetened condensed milk. I remember my first taste and it was delicious and addictive. I knew I was officially growing up when I would pour myself a cup and the adults no longer gave me the side eye. This is what I thought adulting was at 13. Oh to be so young and naive. #adulting
I knew I was officially growing up when I would pour myself a cup and the adults no longer gave me the side eye. This is what I thought adulting was at 13. Oh to be so young and naive. #adulting
My grandmother would always make a big pot and right next to it was a partially opened can of Carnation sweetened condensed milk. I remember my first taste and it was delicious and addictive.
I’d never given much thought to how my family drank it’s coffee until college. I remember ordering a cup in the dining hall and spitting it out thinking “WTF is this?” It was horrible. I stopped drinking coffee and resorted to caffeine sources of the Coke and Mountain Dew variety to get me thru finals. During holiday breaks I would return home and yes on Sundays, find myself back at my grandparents’ house once again delighting in a cup of comfort I couldn’t seem to find so readily available anywhere else. Finally, I asked my grandmother the “where, what’s and how’s” of her coffee. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t making just any old coffee. It was Vietnamese coffee or cà phê đá.
During holiday breaks I would return home and yes on Sundays, find myself back at my grandparents’ house once again delighting in a cup of comfort I couldn’t seem to find so readily available anywhere else. Finally, I asked my grandmother the “where, what’s and how’s” of her coffee. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t making just any old coffee. It was Vietnamese coffee or cà phê đá.
At its simplest, cà phê đá is made using medium to coarse ground dark roast Vietnamese-grown coffee with a small metal Vietnamese drip filter (called phin cà phê). After the hot water is added, the drip filter releases drops of hot coffee slowly into a cup. This finished cup of hot coffee is then quickly poured into a glass full of ice making the finished Vietnamese iced coffee. A popular way to drink Vietnamese coffee is cà phê sữa đá, which is Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk.
It was horrible. I stopped drinking coffee and resorted to caffeine sources of the Coke and Mountain Dew variety to get me through finals.
When I returned to college armed with this new information, I found a tiny little Vietnamese shop on the upper west side of Manhattan near my campus, that served Banh Mi sandwiches and yes, Vietnamese coffee. Life was good.
On some level, it was always kind of crazy to me that more people aren’t drinking Vietnamese coffee all the time at home. Whether hot or cold, It’s seriously delicious AF. One small team of farmers in Vietnam agrees and is on a mission to spread the word about the delights of Vietnamese coffee.
Vietnam based Farmers Blend Coffee has started a kickstarter campaign to that effect. Farmers Blend Coffee offers a coffee blend made from beans grown by local farmers in the highlands of Vietnam and it is fabulous. Plus, I know that our support of a fair-traded product like theirs helps to create a sustainable and better environment and to raise the living standard of minority farmers in Vietnam. So the next time you are in the mood for a cup of Joe, skip Starbucks and make yourself a cà phê đá. Once you try it your life will be changed forever.
Finally, I asked my grandmother the “where, what’s and how’s” of her coffee. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t making just any old coffee. It was Vietnamese coffee or cà phê đá.
This finished cup of hot coffee is then quickly poured into a glass full of ice making the finished Vietnamese iced coffee. A popular way to drink Vietnamese coffee is cà phê sữa đá, which is Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk.
On some level, I have always found it kind of crazy that more people aren’t drinking Vietnamese coffee all the time. Whether hot or cold, It’s seriously delicious AF. There is a small team of farmers in Vietnam that agrees so much, it has made it its mission to spread the word about the delights of Vietnamese coffee.
Your welcome.
And as a bonus, our support of a fair-trade product like theirs helps create a sustainable and better environment, and raise the living standard of minority farmers in Vietnam.
So the next time you are in the mood for a cup of Joe, skip Starbucks and make yourself a cà phê đá. Once you try it your life will be changed forever.