Nguyen Coffee Supply founder Sahra Nguyen spoke to the Wall Street Journal's Eleanore Park about the growing interest in Vietnamese coffee and Nguyen Coffee Supply's role in the space. Here were some of the main takeaways:
- Vietnam has been the world’s second-largest coffee exporter and yet third-wave-coffee culture has been slow to embrace Vietnamese product.
- Over the last couple decades, “serious” cafes have favored arabica beans, frequently given a light roast to reveal a nuanced, bright acidity. The bulk of beans coming out of Vietnam are of the robusta species.
- Vietnamese immigrants to the U.S. have long turned to supermarket brands made with robusta beans—the chicory-laced Café du Monde brand above all—in search of a particular bold, bitter, somewhat smoky flavor that reminded them of their homeland.
- Nguyen Coffee Supply sources beans directly from Vietnam and forgoes added flavorings. Nguyen Coffee Supply’s Loyalty blend is 50/50 robusta/arabica.
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A first-generation Vietnamese-American has partnered with a fourth-generation farmer in Vietnam to bring high-quality robusta and arabica to Brooklyn for roasting.
To read the full article, visit The Wall Street Journal.
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Shop our Vietnamese Coffee Starter Kit here.
Shop our Vietnamese Coffee Trio and try both arabica & robusta coffee.
Learn about the best tools for brewing Vietnamese coffee here.
