The past week was a wipe out, filled with three cooking
classes and activities related to the IACP conference. Nope, Asian Tofu didn’t win a cookbook award
but I got to meet and hang out with friends and culinary legends, like fiesty 93-year-old Cecilia Chiang, who participated on a panel discussion that I
moderated on Chinese food in America. I digress but here's a photo of us after our conference session. It was a success with a packed room and my smile reflects joy and relief (phew!).
Needless to say, it was an intense stretch of time and my brain is still a bit squishy. Our taxes need to be done this weekend and before I dive into that fun task, I wanted to let you know about my experience with instant Vietnamese coffee.
When I’m on the road, I do things that I normally wouldn’t
do, like eat at five restaurants in a day. I also like to drink instant coffee.
In Asia there’s always a hot water kettle around for tea so I keep packages of instant
coffee with me. Japanese instant coffee is fabulous and comes with its own
nifty origami-like filter.
Here in the States, I’ve tried Starbucks instant
coffee and it was just okay. This past week while I was in San Francisco for
about six days, I relied on instant Vietnamese coffee for my morning cup. It
was convenient and worked for my stay in a rental studio that had a
kitchenette.
Cafe Viet is made by Nestle/Nescafe and geared for people in
Vietnam. Nearly all the text on the box packaging was in Vietnamese. They have
a hunky guy on the box to convey the sophisticated, sexy aspect of drinking
instant coffee.
I bought the products at Green Farm Market in Fountain
Valley (Little Saigon), where I found the premium fish sauces. Nestle develops many
culture-specific food products so I was curious and gave the instant regular
coffee (ca phe den) and iced coffee (cafe sua da) a try. Below are my thoughts,
which you’re free to add to:
Both come presweetened,
which I initially found to be problematic because I don’t have a big sweet
tooth. The sweetness bordered on being cloying and tasting artificial. From the
photo on the box, Nescafe expects users to add ice and dilute the beverage,
which would mellow the sweetness. I was drinking the black coffee hot, right
after I mixed it with water so the sweetness was too much.
However, what was interesting was how Nestle made sure there
was a certain bittersweet flavor, a signature
trait of Viet coffee. I liked it in the black coffee but it was obscured in the
iced coffee, which was ultra sweet, practically like a cross between instant
hot cocoa and coffee. I tried blending some of the regular black coffee into
the iced coffee but that didn’t do the trick.
Each box of Nescafe Cafe Viet contains 12 or 16 servings so
I had plenty to experiment with. After I returned home, I tinkered with the iced
coffee; the black ca phe den coffee was fine from the get go. In the leisure of my home kitchen, equipped
with a measuring cup, I read the
directions printed in a teeny tiny font on the package: Mix the coffee
mixture with 50 ml (¼ cup) hot water, then add 120g (4 ounces, ½ cup) of
iced water. I don’t know why Nestle didn’t express the water amounts as milliliters
for consistency reasons. I used a little less ice water (⅓ cup, 70 ml) than
called for and added 5 ice cubes. The result — intense but with a little rich
sweetness — was much better than my initial trials in San Francisco. The ice
arrested the sweetness and as it melted the coffee tasted even better. It was
serviceable.
The caffeine hit
on the Nescafe Cafe Viet products was not as strong as a from-scratch cup of
Vietnamese coffee. I was disappointed by that because it’s what I expected. I suppose
it’s reason to whip up another serving?
The upshot:
Instant Vietnamese coffee is alright. However, I’m not going to replace my
regular cup of coffee made with fresh-ground beans in the Aeropress. Or, will I
want to relinquish my metal coffee filter. But I will keep the leftover
packages, maybe even put a few into my luggage for travel and emergencies.
Because there’s little English on these products tailored
for Vietnamese speakers, I can’t imagine that you’d find them outside of a
Vietnamese market. Or maybe you have? Or,
perhaps you drank the stuff in Vietnam? Let us know!
Related posts and links:
- Vietnamese iced coffee tips (ca phe sua da)
- High-tech Vietnamese Coffee (what I make my morning cup with)
- History of Vietnamese coffee
- Viet coffee history on the Trung Nguyen coffee site (they're like the Starbucks of Vietnam)
sunflowii says
Instant Vietnamese coffee by Trung Nguyen is available here in Toronto. They're ok and on the sweet side too.
Last month, I bought Trung Nguyen ground coffee in San Francisco. It came in a bag, not a canister. I used my Aeropress to make the coffee and I find that I have a hard time pushing the Aeropress down compared to when I'm using other brands of coffee. Would you know if it's because the Trung Nguyen coffee is ground too fine and is really better used with a phin filter?
Nha khoa says
I like Coffee very much ! Trung Nguyen hao hao !
Carolyn Jung says
The "hunky guy'' on the cover is a hilarious bit of advertising. If it was geared toward a U.S. market, it would have a "slinky woman'' on it, no doubt. LOL
Tina Maguire says
I STAYED WITH A FAMILY FOR TWO WEEKS IN VIETNAM AND THIS IS THE COFFEE THEY SERVED ME FOR BREAKFAST EVERY MORNING. I LIKED IT SO MUCH I BROUGHT SOME HOME. I AM NOW OUT AND WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE MORE. HOW CAN I DO THAT? I AM IN LOGAN OHIO.
Mike Myers says
I started drinking Nestle's Cafe Viet den da in Cambodia. I drink it hot. I always add a little sugar, on the weekends a little rum as well.
Andrea Nguyen says
I like your style, Mike!
Nguyen Quynh Nhu says
I recommend you Trung Nguyen Coffee. I tried Nestle Cafe before and I don't like it because it is too sweet for me, I couldnot find the favor of coffee beans inside it.
Andrea Nguyen says
Thanks for the feedback!
Brent Thompson says
OMG.. we have found this coffee to be an incredible cup of goodness. First discovered it by pure accident in a popular Asian store here in the Pacific Northwest; its supply was shoddy at best. We were able to get it off and on for about 6 months, then supply dried up and we could not find it anywhere here in the greater Puget Sound area. About 3 years went by, and never saw it again - until - Amazon began to sell it. Now, we very happily stock ourselves with this very special, beautifully flavorful and aromatic coffee that we find certainly plenty strong. This is a nice break from our Honduran Marcala fresh grind and occasional French Roast as well as Toasted Coconut from Lion Coffee out of Hawaii. Café Viet? It is absolutely.... superbly delicious! People we have introduced this coffee too, have all loved it and are all now avid drinkers of the ever-illusive Nescafe Café Viet. And yes, I also love fresh Vietnamese coffee while in Vietnam, but it has been a while since I've been there. Thank you!
Andrea Nguyen says
What a great dispatch, Brent. Thank you!
Ghraydon Wallick says
My wife and I recently had a five day stay in Ho Chi Min City. The apartment we rented had two complimentary bags of this coffee in the room. We tried it and LOVED it. There was a convenience store in front of the hotel that sold it and we bought a large bag to take home with us in Thailand. Now it's all gone and we're back to drinking fresh ground regular coffee and longing for this Viet coffee's unique flavor. My longing brought me here and I'm happy to learn that Amazon sells it. I never imagined I would ever taste an instant coffee that I liked better than fresh ground but Nestle has changed my mind. I am not a fan of Nestle because of their water hoarding policy and I boycott most everything they produce but this coffee is an exception. I'm going to Amazon. Thanks for leading me there.
Andrea Nguyen says
You're welcome, Ghraydon! Some things are worth making an exception.