Why Vietnam’s Specialty Coffees Are Catching On Around the World

Salt coffee, or ca phe muoi, is a popular beverage trend on social media platforms like TikTok, where users can customize their Starbucks order to taste like a Vietnamese iced coffee. The drink is made by adding sweetened condensed milk to a base of Vietnamese coffee, topped with salted cream and served hot or iced. Ca Phe Muoi, a small café in Vietnam’s historical city of Hue, is widely credited with inventing this now-popular beverage.

The name “Ca phe” means coffee, and “muoi” means salt in Vietnamese. The couple hoped that the name would attract people, as they thought black coffee was only with sugar or milk. The strategy worked, as curious locals and tourists began to visit and liked the drink.

Salt coffee became known as a specialty drink representing historic Hue, and cafes around Vietnam began serving it as well. After the Covid-years, salt coffee seems to be a trend across Vietnam. Today, the café bottles its salt coffee to sell in other Vietnamese cities as well.

Despite the name, the flavors do work, as the sweetened milk and cream balance the bitterness of the coffee, and salt heightens the sweetness. Starbucks’ branches in Vietnam have joined the salt coffee wave, launching their own version of ca phe muoi in May this year.

In 2023, a Bon Appetit article suggested adding salt to brews to cut some of the bitterness and heighten the flavors, noting the tradition goes back hundreds of years in countries like Turkey, Hungary, and Siberia.

Vietnam, the world’s second-largest exporter of coffee after Brazil, has seen a 43.9% increase in coffee exports in the first five months of this year, according to the International Trade Council. The country’s coffee culture is increasingly popular, with outlets ranging from hole-in-the-wall counters with plastic stools to sleek cafes with roasters on the premises. Traditional Vietnamese coffee is brewed in a metal, filtered brewing device placed over a cup or pot, and many people prefer to stir a tablespoon or two of sweetened condensed milk into the strong brew.

One of the distinctive Vietnamese coffee drinks is salt coffee, which is popular in cafes in Hue and across Vietnam. Egg coffee, or ca phe trung, is a dessert-like recipe that adds a topping of egg yolks, frothed with condensed milk, to a coffee base. Other unique Vietnamese coffee drinks include coconut coffee (ca phe cot dua), fruit shake coffee (sinh to ca phe), and yogurt coffee (sua chua ca phe).

According to a report by global market research agency Mintel, consumers outside Asia are increasingly interested in these novel coffee experiences and flavors. Some 71% of Gen Z consumers interviewed by Mintel in the US said they were interested in trying Asian-inspired coffee drinks such as Vietnamese coffee. Bún riêu, a meat or seafood vermicelli soup, is known for its deep red color and flavor.

In the US, 7 Leaves Café, a café chain selling Vietnamese drinks, has expanded to more than 40 branches across the country since opening its first café in California in 2011. Independent Vietnamese cafes have also been popping up around the country, offering versions of salt coffee. In Hue, Huong and Phong say the majority of their patrons order salt coffee, but they also serve other items on the menu, such as chanh xi muoi, a special house-made lemonade with salted lemon jam.

Read More @ CNN