Journey of Vietnamese
Coffee Beans

The first steps are the seeds in the ground. Those seeds lately become unprocessed green coffee beans.

Every country has its own climate, genetics, soil, bacteria, water, and many other indicators. So it turns out that each country produces unique coffee. As for Vietnam, its Central Highland region has fertile basalt soil and a pleasant climate that provides thriving of coffee plants. This is a main region in the country where distinctive Vietnamese coffee beans are grown. Vietnamese coffee farms look after their crops carefully, adapt water cycles, adjust fertilizers, rotate fields, and prune plants.

Learn more about where in Vietnam is our coffee grown in this article.

It usually takes 3-5 years for coffee trees to grow and cherries to ripen. When the coffee cherries become a deep red, they are probably ready to pick. In Vietnam, harvesting time lasts from around October to December, when locals start to harvest red coffee beans with their bare hands.

Sometimes people use a machine, but most often harvesting process is carrying out by Vietnamese plantation workers in the particular region. It happens due to the fact that often coffee trees are grown at high altitudes which makes it quite difficult to bring machines there.

There are green coffee beans inside those cherries that must be removed. It is commonly done using 1 out of 3 methods: natural, washed, and honey.

The natural method considers that whole cherries are dried on massive raised beds during 2-4 weeks. This method results in mild acidity and wild fruit and floral aromas in the coffee beans.

During the washed method the cherry skin and is moved away and the beans are fermented in water for about 12-72 hours. The mucilage is then washed away and the beans are dried on patios or in drying machines. This method removes fruity flavors, results in brighter natural flavors and acidity of coffee beans.

The last one – honey method – occurs the following way. The skin and pulp are removed from the seeds, but a bit of the sticky mucilage is left. Then the seeds are dried on patios where the sugars in the mucilage caramelize and turn a dark color. As a result, we got sweet coffee with medium clarity and acidity. Actually, it is a sweet middle ground between washed method and natural one in terms of flavor.

After the beans were dried to 10-12%, they were ready to be stored and shipped across the world.

Roasting is a heat process that turns coffee from green beans into the fragrant, dark brown beans everyone knows and loves. The majority of roasting machines have a temperature of nearly 550° F, and there are three main types of roast – light, medium and dark. Light coffees will be roasted for short time, and dark roasts, for longer to make the taste brighter. Vietnamese coffee roasting has some features and is done in a little different way.

Firstly, nothing is added to the coffee during roasting. All additives are added when coffee is poured from the roaster drum into a special container for cooling. And at this stage, the Vietnamese can add something like oils, sugar, etc. This is a feature of the Vietnamese traditional blend. But there are many manufactures in the country that produced pure coffee without adding flavorings, oils, etc.

If it is ground coffee, the coffee is ground from coarse to fine depending on the brewing method. But keep in mind that during this process, aromas are released as they react with the air and oxidize.
At the last stages, the coffee is packed, sold, and brewed.

Mr. Viet cooperates with Vietnamese farmers in Dalat region in order to connect them to the world coffee lovers. We carefully select and expertly roast different types of coffee that you can find in our online store. Our main desire is to share our love for such exotic and unique country as Vietnam with you! Contact us to try the real flavors of Vietnam and fall in love!