Last Updated: December 21, 2021
Best Vietnamese Coffee Brands
Did you know that Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer after coffee giant Brazil? It was news to me when I first discovered that authentic Vietnamese coffee beans made up a lot of the world’s coffee market, especially being a coffee enthusiast.
The reason you don’t see Vietnamese coffee when you’re at the supermarket is because they grow mainly robusta coffee beans which are then added to blends made by other coffee brands.
But, when you do some digging into the best Vietnamese coffee brands you’ll be delighted to find out, and eventually taste for yourself that their premium beans make a tasty coffee.
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History of Vietnamese Coffee
Coffee never naturally grew in Vietnam and it was introduced to the country by the French in 1857 back when Vietnam was a French colony. The French planted the now Vietnamese coffees in the Central Highlands of Vietnam around the area of Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam’s coffee capital.
The Vietnamese coffee beans first harvested were meant to be used by only the French but it was not long until the locals began to love drinking coffee too. This is when traditional Vietnamese-style coffee and unique coffee culture was born.
The production of Vietnamese beans took a while to hit a global scale. The Vietnamese coffee industry slowly grew until the Vietnam War with the USA interrupted it as the region of Buôn Ma Thuột, the best Vietnamese coffee growing area, was sandwiched between north and south Vietnam.
The area saw very little conflict but most people in the region left and thus Vietnamese coffee production was halted.
When the war ended, Vietnam’s coffee production ramped up and by the 2000s Vietnam was the number two coffee producer on the planet. It is now their second-largest export after rice.
As I mentioned above, Vietnam farms mostly robusta beans, in fact, 95% of their production is robusta beans while the remaining 5% are premium arabica beans.
Robusta beans are much easier and faster to grow plus they contain more caffeine and are used in instant coffee and espresso blends. Today, Vietnamese coffee producers are trying to make more arabica beans and less robusta beans.
Robarica
Robarica is one of the best Vietnamese coffee brands and as you might have guessed by the name, they combine robusta and arabica beans to make a blend coffee lover can’t get enough of.
The reason Robarica makes such great Vietnamese coffee is because of their care during the growing process which ends up producing some of the best Vietnamese coffee beans. They plant their coffee trees in the central highlands and let them grow for 8 years.
When it’s time to harvest, they pick every coffee cherry by hand and process them using natural methods and then send them for roasting. After the whole beans have been roasted they store them in pine barrels and then only the best coffee beans are used in their blends to make a flavorful and aromatic cup of coffee.
Their Ground Blend has a solid caffeine kick with low acidity along with fruity and chocolate notes plus a dash of herbs. The rich flavor makes it the perfect Vietnamese coffee blend for espressos and making Vietnamese-style coffee with sweetened condensed milk.
This Vietnamese coffee brand also sells bags of 100% robusta beans that make excellent traditional ground coffee for traditional Vietnamese coffee and espresso. Its high caffeine content means it’s good for giving any coffee lover a kick start in the morning.
VN Roaster
VN Roaster is probably the best Vietnamese coffee brand when it comes to roasting but they aren’t a coffee brand that grows their own coffee beans. VN Roaster sources their coffee from the Da Lak in the Central Highlands and then makes delicious roasted ground coffee.
This Vietnamese coffee brand makes two excellent Vietnamese coffee blends and the most famous is the VN Roaster Butter Roasted Premium Blend. Roasting coffee beans in butter is a tradition in Saigon and it creates an aromatic coffee that is rich and sometimes a little oily.
The butter roasting removes the bitter taste and brings out an intense flavor that tastes creamy butter and chocolate from the 100% robusta beans. It’s the perfect blend for making a homemade Vietnamese drip coffee and throwing in a dash of sweetened condensed milk.
For a lighter, sweeter specialty coffee with low acidity, try the VN Roaster Cinnamon Blend that is made with 100% arabica. It has a fruiting flavorful smooth taste with a hint of spices and is perfect for a french press and best served with fresh milk. You can also use this sweet and fruity brew for Vietnamese iced coffee.
Bach Coffee Company
The Bach Coffee Company is one of the best Vietnamese coffee brands if you’re looking for a strong high caffeine coffee with natural sweetness.
You’ll find every coffee shop filled with their Back Robusta While Bean in Vietnam and it’s the perfect blend for drip coffee and condensed milk or for espresso as it makes a very creamy top.
The beans used are grown at high altitudes to make premium quality coffee and then dry air roasted to make a dark-medium roast. The roasting process gives this Grade A whole bean coffee a more natural flavor profile with low acidity and chocolate notes and it ensures it’s free from any additives.
All coffee lovers who depend on their morning espresso cup of coffee to get them going should grab some of this 100% robusta coffee. You’ll be welcomed with a delicious coffee drink every morning that is as natural as it gets and provides a chocolate smooth taste.
ChestBrew
Another of the top Vietnamese coffee brands to look out for is ChestBrew, especially if you love a cold brew. Unlike most Vietnamese coffee brands that focus on regular hot brewed coffee, ChestBrew is a coffee brand that focuses on cold brew blends and they have quite a few great ones.
ChestBrew’s Moon Bear blend is their specialty coffee that is made from 100% arabica and is designed to give you a sweet cold brew. The beans are dark roasted which brings out a lot of powerful flavors and the caffeine content is off the charts, so be careful with this one.
You can also use this whole bean coffee in a hot brew but making it cold will bring out a lot more flavors from this quality coffee. Plus brewing this Vietnam coffee cold will lower the acidity and make it more comfortable on your stomach.
It’s the perfect Vietnamese coffee for Vietnamese iced coffee thanks to its dark intense but sweet flavors that work well with condensed milk.
If grinding your own beans to drop into a cold-brewed french press sounds like a hassle then ChestBrew’s Cold Brew ground coffee will suit you better.
It has a similar taste profile to Moon Bear and all you need to do is add it to your press and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours before pouring it into some condensed milk to make a yummy iced coffee.
Vinacafe
Vinacafe is the best Vietnamese coffee brand when it comes to instant coffee and their Vinacafe Instant Coffee Mix can not be beaten. While making real Vietnamese coffee with a Vietnamese coffee filter isn’t possible with Vietnamese instant coffee, the locals will turn to Vinacafe Instant Coffee Mix over every other Vietnamese instant coffee when they have to.
Vincafe has won awards for their instant coffees and have been producing it since 1983. Each cup of their instant coffee is absolutely delicious (for instant) and it tastes full of flavor with a slightly aromatic hint to it.
If you’re ever traveling around Vietnam, make sure to grab some of this Vietnamese coffee to take with you as a backup for when making Vietnamese coffee with a Vietnamese coffee filter isn’t possible. It works for both cold and hot coffee and is great in iced coffee.
Lang Thang Coffee
Lang Thang is an Ohio-based coffee brand that sources all of their coffee beans from Vietnam. Every coffee bean they purchase is grown in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and is roasted in Saigon before being flown into the US.
Their premium blend is called Saigon Phin Daklak and it’s exceptionally good Vietnam coffee. Saigon Phin Daklak is made using a blend of Arabica, Robusta, peaberry, and soybeans.
While the addition of soybeans isn’t common in most coffee houses, it’s pretty common in Vietnam and it gives Saigon Phin Daklak a strong bold flavor with a touch of sweetness. It’s the perfect blend for making Vietnamese-style hot coffee.
In addition, Lang Thang also produces a medium roast blend called Saigon Espresso which makes very good Vietnamese coffee as well as espressos. It’s a whole bean coffee blend made from arabica and robusta with an intense bold flavor and a bunch of caffeine.
Saigon Espresso is the perfect medium roast Vietnamese coffee for cappuccinos, lattes, iced coffees, and lots more. The locals in Vietnam love it for making an espresso-based ca phe sua da (coffee with condensed milk and ice).
Trung Nguyen
Trung Nguyen is the big dog when it comes to Vietnamese coffee as they are the largest grower of coffee cherries as well as the largest processor and exporter of Vietnamese coffee in the country.
Trung Nguyen started out in 1996 and they were the first to create a franchise of Trung Nguyen Vietnamese coffee houses which have since expanded into multiple countries.
Trung Nguyen Vietnamese coffee is absolutely delicious and their most popular offering is their Premium Blend Ground Coffee which is made from the best Trung Nguyen robusta and arabica coffee beans. These especially chosen Trung Nguyen beans are packed full of deep flavors with hints of chocolate and have a much lower acidity compared to other blends out there.
Another Trung Nguyen blend that everyone loves is their Gourmet blend where they combine robusta, arabica, excelsa, and catimore beans to make a medium roasted coffee with low acid, high caffeine, and delicious flavors.
You can taste deep tones with fruits, chocolate, and spices and it’s the perfect coffee for every occasion as you can brew it however you like. It works with a phin, drip, percolator, press, and is great for a travel coffee maker too.
While Trung Nguyen makes a lot of blends, another one that has to be mentioned is their instant coffee powder G7. For an instant Vietnamese coffee, it packs a lot of flavors and is perfect for when you can get your hands on a coffee bean.
Nguyen Coffee Supply
Nguyen Coffee Supply is a relatively new Vietnamese coffee brand that has been gaining popularity over the years thanks to its use of excellent coffee beans. Each whole bean is sourced from Vietnam’s central highlands and then flown to New York to be roasted.
This bestselling blend is called Loyalty and it uses single-origin arabica and robusta beans in combination with their special roasting method that rings out an amazing array for flavor profiles from sweet to nutty and smooth.
You can taste hints of almond, cacao, pomelo, and even smoked caramel which is backed by a deep-tasting bold coffee flavor. You can also pick between ground or whole bean coffee in this blend, so you can make a fresher cup at home.
In addition to Loyalty, this brand also makes a blend called Truegrit that uses 100% single-origin peaberry Robusta but will have you thinking it’s an arabica you’re drinking. It’s full-bodied, punchy, has a lot of caffeine as well as scotch, grapefruit zest, and bitter melon hues to its taste.
Copper Cow Coffee
Copper Cow Coffee is a new Vietnamese coffee brand that is turning heads with its innovative creation and one of which is making instant coffee about a thousand times better. They have created a 5 pack pour-over set which comes with top-quality grounds in a kind of tea bag/drip bag that makes having a real coffee on the road about as delicious and easy as possible.
All the drip bags are sustainably sourced, as is the packaging and they come with condensed milk, so you can make a real Vietnamese drip coffee in seconds. Simply hang the drip bag with the coffee grounds over your mug and pour in hot water along with the condensed milk and you’re ready to go.
You can also find their pour-over set in a lot of delicious flavors including black, coconut, salted caramel, and a load of latte flavors such as mint, rose, vanilla, lavender, and even churro. If you’re ever on the road or camping, these are the coffee bags you want to have with you.
Dalat Peaberry
If you’re looking for the best espresso Vietnamese coffee can make then you’re going to want the premium beans that are grown in the highlands of Da Lat, and that’s exactly where the beans for Dalat Peaberry come from.
Dalat Peaberry is one of the most sought-after and delicious Vietnamese coffee brands in the world for those of you who live for a quality espresso.
The robusta beans from Da Lat are medium roasted to provide a very balanced flavor profile which kicks up a lot of golden espresso cream with a caffeine boost of note. The taste comes with a deep chocolatey tone backed by a lot of earth with depth and some natural sweetness.
It’s the perfect blend from drinking coffee Vietnamese style as well as espresso and combining it with arabica beans for a more balanced blend.
Weasel Coffee
Weasel coffee in Vietnam describes a coffee made from partially digested beans that have been eaten and excreted by an Asian Palm Civet cat. This process is said to add a ton of flavor to the coffee and locals love it.
Now, we aren’t talking about bags of digested coffee beans when we talk about Weasel coffee’s Masterpiece Blend as only 10% of the blend is digested weasel coffee while the other 90% is some of the best robusta and arabica beans from the Buon Ma Thuot province.
The result of this clever, innovative, and rather gut-wrenching combination is a deviously balanced coffee that is smooth with hints of cacao, caramel, and butter. It’s the creme de la creme of the Vietnamese coffee world.
Another excellent blend from Weasel Coffee is Mr. Phong’s Private Reserve which was actually named after one of their coffee production managers. It combines hand-selected robusta and arabica beans ensuring that only the best beans end up in your coffee mug plus a little bit of semi-digested weasel coffee too!
The beans are then roasted very slowly and with a lot of care over an open flame to give you a deep earthy taste that is rich and very aromatic. Every sip awakens the senses and it’s a perfect blend for after dinner.
About the Author Roger Timbrook
Roger is a little obsessed with travel. He has been to over 40 countries, broken 3 suitcases and owned over 10 backpacks in 12 months. What he doesn't know about travel, ain't worth knowing!
