Lê Hương

Coffee and Việt Nam go hand in hand. And for the millions of foreign visitors coming here each year, a real taste of Việt Nam can be found on pavements in cities nationwide.

There are thousands of cafés serving endless cups of coffee each day. And forget about your instant brew, if you want to really experience Vietnamese coffee culture, you must delve into its history.

One establishment in the capital city may not be on the tourist trial, but foreign visitors should certainly seek it out because here, unlike most other shops, coffee really is brewed the old fashioned way - with beans roasted on a wood fire.

Local coffee lovers are all too aware of Triệu Việt Vương Street.

Café Thai roasts beans on a wood fire just as they did when they first opened in 1926.

The café is run by the fourth generation of the original owner.

According to Nguyễn Văn Thuấn, grandson of the café's founder, said: “The quality of coffee has been maintained in the traditional way of Hanoians and has been increasingly enhanced from stages of selecting materials, processing, roasting, grinding, and serving.”

Although the type of coffee bean has changed over the years the method remains the same.

“To this Café Thai brand name, we still keep the traditional way of roasting and grinding coffee beans like that since the first days we opened,” he said.

“In the beginning, my parents roasted coffee beans in a saucepan on a wood fire.

“Then they roasted coffee beans in a cylindrical metal coffee roaster. Now we use a coffee roaster machine that can automatically change the spinning speed on a wood fire.”

Nguyễn Đức Hiếu enthuses with his special coffee bean roasting on a firewood oven. VNS Photo Lê Hương

Thuấn said the shop now has secured stable material sources from Buôn Mê Thuột, Nghệ An and Sơn La provinces.

“We select the best coffee strains from these regions to process into this drink,” he said.

He also said the shop uses pure coffee beans with a certain proportion of Robusta and Arabica to offer the best-balanced flavour.

Coffee beans are roasted on wood fire and they absorb the wood’s scent to create an unforgettable taste.

Coffee aficionados are loyal to this shop.

Lê Văn Hùng, in his late 70s, said: “I drink coffee here every day since the owner’s great-grandfather ran the shop.”

He said though he lives far away, he is addicted to coffee here.

“I have many friends here, more than ten of them have passed away,” he said.

“The shop has been keeping us with its long-history coffee strain. The owners even know what kind of coffee I like to drink and bring here for me.”

Architect Nguyễn Trần Bắc, another regular, said he often takes hot black coffee as it tastes strong.

Pure coffee mixed with condensed milk is a specialty in Hà Nội. VNS Photo Lê Hương

“I feel more excited, and happy and have good energy for a working day,” he said.

Bắc said the strong coffee taste here reminds him of the coffee he tasted when he was a teenager.

“It tastes something a long time ago,” he said.

Nguyễn Thành Công, also a regular, said the the coffee here tastes suitable to him.

“I like the atmosphere of this shop and I have many friends here. I meet them every morning,” he revealed.

Công said sometimes he drinks coffee with my friends in other shops.

“Each shop has its special taste,” he said. “But I think roasted coffee on a wood fire here is something pure with its true material.”

As this coffee is a success there’s no real need to make many changes.

Instead, tweaks have been made to the growing process to ensure the best brew.

The first initiator of the café was Nguyễn Văn Đến in 1926. But till when his son Nguyễn Văn Thái took over the shop, he designed a sign for the café and expanded the business into neighbouring houses in Triệu Việt Vương Street. Then came Thái’s son Nguyễn Văn Tĩnh, who continued to develop the family heritage.

The present café owner Nguyễn Đức Hiếu, the fourth generation owner, has his own way of maintaining sustainable business.

“The first thing I did when I took over the shop was to go to Sơn La to buy land and grow coffee,” he said.

After he had all the experiences to understand the coffee plants, he knew what he should affect.

“All of these stemmed from my thinking that I should do things better, I should have the responsibility to keep this cultural heritage,” Hiếu said.

The cafe has been a popular destination to many Hanoians. Photo from Facebook of Cafe Thái

“It’s a small family heritage but it’s priceless to frequent customers. Not only four generations in my family have been selling coffee, but many of our regulars have enjoyed coffee here for four generations.”

If you visit Hà Nội, come to savour coffee at Café Thái once. VNS