Bringing Vietnamese Cafe Culture to New York City
Our 4-month pop-up CAFE PHIN is no longer operating. But you can make all of our famous drinks at home by purchasing our beans and discovering our unique drink recipes here.
Follow us at @nguyencoffeesupply.
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Welcome to Year of the Phin.
Nguyen Coffee Supply presents CAFE PHIN, a daytime Vietnamese coffee speakeasy opening on April 10th, 2019. Following the successful launch of the company in November, NCS founder Sahra Nguyen has joined forces with restaurateur Tuan Bui to launch the cafe at the pioneering Lower East Side establishment, An Choi.
At a height of a new Golden Age for Vietnamese food and drink in New York City, the cafe spotlights Vietnam’s coffee and cafe culture with a mix of pour-over style drinks, traditional phin drip, and original creations made with Nguyen Coffee Supply’s inaugural releases: Moxy (100% single origin arabica) and Loyalty (single origin arabica-robusta blend).
Following a legacy of French colonialism, Vietnam has become the world’s second-largest producer of coffee, yet Vietnamese coffee drinks in the United States are rarely made with coffee from Vietnam, which is long maligned for being cheap and low quality.
“We are opening this cafe to honor Vietnamese coffee culture while showing New Yorkers the versatility of Vietnamese coffee beans, whether in a delicate pour over or traditionally robust ca phe sua,” says founder Sahra Nguyen. “We are thrilled to be part of a Fourth Wave movement spotlighting the natural bounty of Vietnamese farms and shattering stereotypes about Vietnamese coffee.”
The menu will include a regular drip coffee, drip coffee made using the traditional phin filter, and Hario pour overs. Specialty drinks include the Coconut Vietnamese Coffee, the Ube Iced Latte, and a Sea Salt Vietnamese Shakerato. In addition to drinks made using NCS coffee, CAFE PHIN will serve tastings of Vietnam’s famed weasel and elephant coffee, which rank among some of the world’s most expensive beans at $100/lb.
The launch of the cafe coincides with the ten-year anniversary of An Choi, which opened on New York’s Lower East Side in 2009. During the month of April, the restaurant will also play host to a Vietnamese photography exhibit by Vietnamese-American artist Cindy Trinh.
“As a first generation Vietnamese-American, I take pride in who we are by celebrating our cuisine as well as our rich and distinct culture,” says Tuan Bui, proprietor of An Choi. “To offer a platform to promising and talented peers such Sahra Nguyen and Cindy Trinh gives me great satisfaction.”