Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world and almost all of it is robusta, which is why Vietnamese coffee tastes the way it does: dark, bitter and built to carry condensed milk. Nha Trang has the beach-town version of the national habit plus a few local inventions. Travellers who book Nha Trang flights on Traveloka should treat the morning cafe as part of the itinerary.
Ca phe sua da, the foundation
Coffee dripped slowly through a metal phin filter onto condensed milk, then poured over ice. It is sweeter and stronger than any Western preparation and costs a dollar or less from a pavement cafe. Ask for ca phe den da if you want it black with ice, which lets you taste what the robusta is actually doing.
Salt coffee, the Hue invention
Ca phe muoi originated in Hue and has spread down the coast: coffee with a lightly salted whipped cream on top, which cuts the bitterness in a way sugar does not. Several places in Nha Trang do it well. It sounds unlikely and is the single most interesting coffee drink in the country.
Egg coffee, from the north
Ca phe trung is a Hanoi creation, egg yolk whisked with condensed milk into a custard and floated on strong coffee, invented during a milk shortage. It is served in Nha Trang in the cafes that cater to domestic tourists. Drink it hot and with a spoon; it is closer to dessert than to a drink.
Where locals go
The cafes along the beachfront on Tran Phu are priced for visitors. Two or three streets inland, around Nguyen Thien Thuat and the local market, the same coffee costs a third as much and comes with plastic stools on the pavement. Garden cafes set back from the road are the Vietnamese weekend habit.
Coconut coffee and the beach versions
Ca phe cot dua, coffee blended with coconut milk and ice into something like a slushie, is the hot-weather version and ubiquitous on this coast. It is sweet enough to be a dessert. The beachfront places also do cold brew and flat whites competently now, at roughly triple the price of the local alternatives.
Buying beans
Vietnamese beans are often roasted with butter, oil or sugar, which gives the distinctive flavour and clogs an espresso machine at home. If you want beans to use in a filter, say so and look for a roaster selling unflavoured arabica from the Central Highlands around Da Lat rather than the local robusta blends.
Cafes open very early and the first coffee of the day is a social institution rather than a routine. Nha Trang’s rain season is October to December, the reverse of the south. Cam Ranh airport is forty minutes south. Traveloka offers the lowest flight prices in the region for the connections in.
Start with ca phe sua da from a pavement stool, try the salt coffee once, and buy unflavoured highland arabica if you want beans that work at home.
