TravelTuesday: Vietnamese Coffee Culture

One of my earlier articles was a business outlook on why Starbucks failed in South Africa. However, I failed to mention that, albeit for different reasons, the company suffered a similar outcome in Vietnam.

I had the pleasure of visiting Vietnam, a country that not only captivated me with its beauty but also introduced me to its profound love affair with Cà phê. There is a coffee shop located on every nook and street offering rich specialized coffee. For them, sipping coffee is more than just a morning ritual; it's a full-blown cultural journey.

Walk down any Vietnamese street at any hour, and you will see crowds of people in coffee shops. Students, especially with their laptops, are either doing their uni homework or coding away waiting for cà phê nâu or cà phê sữa . Some of them are reading books while others laugh and talk with their friends.

Nighttime safety isn’t a concern in Vietnam, which adds to the charm and ease of their Cà phê culture. They have coffee shops that are open 24/7, and since I was working on the CST timezone and sharing a hotel room, I had to work in these coffee shops. I would always be mesmerized at how many young locals would be left behind in the odd hours, typing away and drinking their coffee.

They are not in a hurry to drink the coffee just for a quick caffeine fix, and most of their coffee is not prepared fast. Their filtered coffee, which uses an aluminum coffee filter, lasts 20 minutes from start to finish. And while they wait for these, they chat and read a book. The end result is a cup sent down from the realms of heaven. Also, because of their predominant Robusta beans, defined by their intensity, which lends a slight bitterness, many Vietnamese feel sugar or condensed milk is compulsory. Heaven, I say.

Their coffee shops are made and designed for the human element of it, not for greedy corporations who want to sell overpriced and over-roasted coffee. Sometimes, the magic isn't in the coffee itself but in the way it's enjoyed. And maybe, just maybe, that's a little lesson we could all brew over.