The New Coffee Capital of the World... Hanoi, Vietnam 🇻🇳

Mopeds and motorbikes wizz past me with only a few inches to spare. I'm sat on a miniature deck chair on what was once intended to be a pavement. In front of me, a cream cheese coffee from VHN Coffee in Hanoi's Old Quarter. It is an unlikely combination, but ends up being one of the best coffees I end up having on the trip, perhaps ever. 

The VHN Cà Phê a.k.a. cream cheese coffee. 

The coffee culture in Hanoi and, in turn, Vietnam, is next to none. Coffee culture in the English language uses loanwords from perhaps the most well known country when it comes to coffee - Italy. For a coffee with milk, we say "latte", which directly translates to "milk" in Italian. We also use "mocha" short for mocaccino and also cappucino, directly from Italian. But perhaps we should look further afield for our coffee inspiration. 

During my six days in Hanoi, I tried a number of coffees which opened my mind to a new way of thinking about coffee. Each drink brings out a new memory of the various spots I went to - starting with the famous salted cream coffee. 

Jetlagged and extremely tired having caught the flight to Vietnam directly off a night shift, my first Vietnamese coffee was something I'll always remember. At 80+ Coffee Roastery, I ordered the Ngà coffee - which was a shot of coffee, condensed milk, and salted cream foam. It was muggy and hot in Hanoi (see scene from Good Morning Vietnam below) and as such I ordered it iced. After mixing it all together, and taking my first sip - the moment became transformative and I wasn't sure I could ever enjoy a solitary flat white ever again. At first, it was refreshing in the humidity that was unrelenting. But then came the taste, the sweetness of the condensed milk is perfectly balanced with the saltiness of the salted cream. Neither taste overpowering the other, but in fact a perfectly blended mix. While I didn't want it to end, I couldn't wait for the next Vietnamese coffee either. 

A delicious salted cream coffee at 80+ Coffee Roastery

The next stop was sort of accidental. Despite not meaning to, we somehow ended up around the corner from the world famous Hanoi Train Street. A woman saw me struggling to cross the road and helped me, which although the cynical part of me likes to think was a rouse to get me into her cafe, was actually also just a genuinely nice attempt to help a lost tourist. As such, we rewarded her kindness by sitting down at her cafe not too far into Train Street. Upon reviewing the menu, I settled for an egg coffee - a coffee I had heard much about before coming to Hanoi. In essence, it is made by pouring coffee over whipped egg yolk. Where better place to try one than here, I thought? Not at that cafe it turns out. The after taste was strange and the coffee strangely thick. It felt more like some sort of protein drink than a coffee. This was the only coffee I had during my trip which I did not like and it put me off trying egg coffees for the remainder of the trip. Was it because I did not like the egg coffee or was it because the location just made a bad egg coffee? I'm not sure. Nevertheless, sipping it as a train passed within inches of my face and legs was a unique experience.. and more scary than it appears in photos and videos too!

Egg coffee... not my favourite!

Tuck in! Here comes the train down Hanoi's Train Street.

A part of me worried that maybe these "coffees" were gimmicks, losing the essence of what a coffee is. But I was glad to be proven wrong time and again at various cafes and institutions in the city. The banana coffee I had at Langbiang Coffee, just down the road from our AirBnB, risked going into milkshake territory if not done correctly. But as with all coffees and meals I had in Vietnam, it was freshly made and blended to order. A shot of coffee, blended banana, and condensed milk (the go-to it seems) - all it takes for a good coffee. No additional banana flavouring or ice cream added, basically an ice latte with some blended banana. It was basic, but it was damn good. Once again, neither flavour overpowering the other - just two flavours complementing each other very well.

Banana coffee - looks normal, but plenty of banana bits and goodness floating about

Most coffees in Hanoi tended to be made with condensed milk, which created a unique flavour on its own. On a particularly hot day, I enjoyed an iced coffee with no other flavourings apart from condensed milk. It was sweeter than would be expected from a normal coffee, but so uniquely Vietnamese. While "European" style coffees are available, why resort to a boring latte when in (what I consider to be) the new Coffee Capital of the World? The style of Vietnamese coffee is clearly spreading in popularity around Asia as I witnessed Starbucks and other international coffee chains offer 'Vietnamese Cold Brews' in stores in India in the next part of our trip. 

And why shouldn't it? The stuff is good. It's creative but not unnecessarily loaded with sugar and additives. Scrap the pumpkin spice and black forest sugar-loaded monstrosities we have here in the UK. Replace it with high quality, genuinely creative coffees from around the world, starting with Vietnam. We don't need whipped cream, cocoa dust, and a boat load of syrup for a unique coffee. Just swap the whole milk for condensed and whipped cream for salted cream and - voilà - you have something unique and delicious. 

I'm sure it won't be long before the phenomenon spreads to coffee shops here in the UK and I'll be glad to see it because, if anything, the Vietnamese deserve it. They've been through a lot. Although I'm not sure I'll be first in line to try a salted cream coffee from a machine at Greggs...