Experience the Coffee Culture Across Vietnam: Hanoi, Huế, and Saigon

Coffee shops in Hue are often very peaceful and tranquil. People play soft, gentle music, usually Trinh's music or pre-war music. In Hue, people rarely laugh and talk loudly but often chat quietly, sometimes silently watching the Perfume River flow, or listening to the sound of oars, the chirping of birds chatting on branches. Currently, despite many different coffee shops opening up on both sides of the North and South, coffee shops along the riverbanks on streets like Le Loi, Nguyen Cong Tru, Han Mac Tu, Nguyen Sinh Cung such as Vi Da Xua, Song Xanh, Doi Bo, Sau Dong, Nhat Tao, Long Gio... are still the most visited places by people in Hue.

Hanoi Coffee Culture

The way people in Hanoi drink coffee is quite similar to those in Hue. They also have two main types: coffee with sugar or milk. But because the weather in Hanoi is colder than Hue, they often drink less ice, they have to order in 4 ways: brown ice, black ice, brown, black.

- Brown ice: iced milk coffee;

- Black ice: iced black coffee;

- Brown: milk coffee without ice;

- Black: black coffee without ice.

Moreover, people in Hanoi also invented a type of coffee that nowhere else has: egg coffee. Whisked egg whites are mixed with coffee.

Then, every time they go to a coffee shop, they also have the habit of sitting leisurely, watching the world go by, much like people in Hue. However, Hanoi is still a big, bustling urban area, so it can't have the serene and tranquil spaces like in Hue, except for the sidewalk coffee shops. Therefore, you shouldn't be surprised to see people in Hanoi casually sipping coffee even though the place they sit in looks very old and shabby; the scene in front of them is bustling and noisy; people are crowded and cramped.

However, people in Hanoi are not as keen on drinking coffee as those in Hue. They don't have the habit of drinking coffee in the morning, except for retirees or those with flexible schedules. Hanoians usually go to coffee shops in the evening. They drink coffee in small glass or ceramic cups. The amount of coffee in each cup is a little more than in Hue, so it's also a bit diluted. Iced coffee is usually served with large ice cubes. The most famous coffee area in Hanoi is still Hang Hanh; the four most famous long-standing coffee shops in the capital are: Nhân, Đinh, Giảng, Lâm.

Saigon Coffee Culture

Unlike people in Hue and Hanoi, the way people in Saigon drink coffee is very casual. Saigonese see coffee not only as a drink to sip and enjoy but also as a thirst quencher. So, when you come to Saigon in the summer, you will occasionally see someone hastily stopping at a stall or roadside café, buying a cup or packet of coffee, taking a quick sip, and then leaving, as if drinking sugarcane juice.

In Saigon, coffee preparation is quite unique: lots of ice, little coffee. A Saigon coffee glass looks no different from a Coca Cola glass, both in color, weight, and function. When you go to a coffee shop and order a milk coffee or iced coffee, they will bring you a big glass with all the ingredients, you just need to drink, no need to move a muscle. If someone from Hanoi or Hue visits Saigon for the first time, without knowing or hearing about it, the experience of drinking coffee will create a slight cultural shock.

Only in Saigon, people drink coffee with a straw. Moreover, while people in Hue and Hanoi use large ice cubes for coffee, small ice cubes for tea, Saigonese do the opposite. Additionally, Saigonese coffee is very sweet, almost masking the bitter taste of coffee. Their coffee is already very diluted. Few people from Hanoi and Hue can drink a ready-made Saigon coffee because it's too much and too sweet. Meanwhile, Saigonese can't drink Hanoi - Hue style coffee, it's too strong and too slow.

Saigon Travel if you see someone sitting for a long time in a coffee shop, they might be migrants from the North and Central regions. People in Saigon go to coffee shops for lunch, for work meetings, to quickly drink morning coffee before going to work... then they leave, rarely lingering. Another special thing in Saigon: the more upscale the coffee shop, the worse the coffee, and vice versa. It's unclear why! In Saigon, if you want to order a proper cup of coffee in the Northern or Central style, you have to know how to order: one coffee (little milk) brewed with a filter.

In coffee shops, in Hanoi and Hue: you have to keep asking for more water; while in Saigon: you can drink as much water as you want, whenever you feel like it. In Hanoi, sitting in a coffee shop for a long time can get you kicked out; in Hue and Saigon: never. Iceless coffee in Saigon is called a cleanse.

By Linh Dan

***

Reference: Travel guide from Mytour