by Hồng Vân

For Will Frith, born in the US to an American father and Vietnamese mother, a visit to Việt Nam in 2004 ignited a passion for coffee that would change his life.

His mission on that first trip was to see his grandmother. But along the way, he had the chance to experience the Vietnamese coffee culture: “sitting in the small plastic stool, watching the world go by while slowly sipping the cà phê đá (iced coffee),” he recalls. He describes the now-familiar flavour as “nutty chocolate and caramel ice cream with a bitter aftertaste”.

“Everything I heard, smelled, saw, and tasted was familiar thanks to my early exposure to the sounds of the language, the food and customs. I couldn’t quite understand why it was so familiar, but it felt something like ‘home’,” said Frith.

The passion for Vietnamese coffee, combined with his experiences working as a roaster in Washington after graduating from college, led Frith to a career in coffee consultation. While working in the states, he maintained his interest in his mother’s country and its coffee.

“What keeps me engaged in the country [Việt Nam] is its potential for producing great coffee and a fascinating coffee culture that is growing quickly,” said Frith.

In 2013 he moved to HCM City on a mission to find high quality arabica in Đà Lạt.

With strong coffee-drinking culture and more specialty cafes opening, Việt Nam can be “one of few places that grows, processes, and consumes specialty coffee within its own borders - a sustainable, virtuous loop”, Frith says. He sees high potential for the country’s growth, predicting that the Đà Lạt region could become a reputable producer of medium- and high-quality Arabica internationally.

 “Most coffee-growing countries export their best products to the US or Europe for consumption, but if someone wants to taste the best Vietnamese Arabica they would have to visit Việt Nam,” said Frith.

Đà Lạt’s flavourful Arabica

Over the past few years, Frith has worked with specialty cafes and organisations in Việt Nam like Là Việt Coffee in Đà Lạt, a family business that produces, roasts and serves their own beans; The Workshop in HCM City, touting itself as Việt Nam’s first specialty coffee bar; Mach Coffee, a luxury roasting house in Phan Rang since the 1940s; and Filanthrope, a non profit charity that supports indigenous tribal coffee farmers.

Frith focused mostly on roaster training, barista training, branding, quality control and product development.

Trần Nhật Quang, owner of Là Việt Coffee, met Frith at the Coffee Festival in Buôn Mê Thuột City in Đắk Lắk Province in 2013.

With a shared passion for coffee, Quang and Frith became close friends quickly.

“We talked passionately about the potential of Arabica coffee in Việt Nam. In late 2013 when I opened Là Việt café, he came to help me with staff training and roasting training as well as quality control and to connect me with the international partners,” said Quang. “Frith is very knowledgeable about Vietnamese coffee. He and I share the aspiration to bring high quality Vietnamese coffee to the world.”