Coffee Library

Understanding coffee — from farm to cup

31 articles on how coffee is grown, processed, brewed and enjoyed, Vietnamese coffee culture, and how to judge a great cup.

IOrigin & processing

E01 How Is Coffee Grown? From seed to ripe red cherry — what a coffee plant needs to thrive, and why Vietnam's Central Highlands became a major coffee region.

E02 Coffee Care & Harvest A year on a coffee farm — pruning, dry-season watering, fertilising, pest control — and why picking only ripe cherries shapes the cup.

E03 Post-Harvest Processing From fresh cherry to green bean — the three main processing methods (natural, washed, honey), drying, hulling, sorting, then roasting and instant coffee.

E04 Coffee Varieties Around the World How Arabica, Robusta, Liberica and Excelsa differ, well-known varieties, and the major growing regions from Ethiopia, Brazil and Colombia to Vietnam.

IIBrewing & coffee around the world

E05 Coffee Brewing Basics Coffee-to-water ratios, grind size for each method, water at 90–96 °C, extraction time, choosing brewing water and storing coffee properly.

E06 How the World Enjoys Coffee Italian espresso, Japanese and Nordic filter coffee, American cold brew, Turkish coffee and the moka pot — each place has its own way to brew and drink.

IIIVietnamese brewing & coffee culture

E07 The Phin Filter — Icon of Vietnamese Coffee Where the phin came from, what its parts are, aluminium or stainless steel, which size to choose, and tips for adjusting the drip speed for a cup you love.

E08 Espresso Machines in Vietnam How espresso machines came to Vietnam's city cafés, why Robusta suits espresso, Vietnamese machine-brewed drinks, and phin versus machine.

E09 Vietnamese-Style Pour-Over What pour-over is, why paper-filter coffee is growing in popularity in Vietnam, how to brew a cup at home and which Vietnamese beans to choose.

E10 Vietnamese-Style Cold Brew What cold brew is, how it differs from traditional iced coffee brewed hot, how to steep it for 12–24 hours at home, and Vietnamese ways to drink it.

E11 Vietnamese Iced Milk Coffee — the Nation's Favourite Drink Why Vietnamese coffee is made with condensed milk, how to brew a proper iced milk coffee with a phin filter at home, and popular variations.

E12 Sidewalk Coffee Culture Low plastic stools, iced coffee and passing traffic — why the sidewalk café became part of everyday Vietnamese life, plus a little café etiquette.

E13 The Coffee Shop as a Workplace Why many Vietnamese treat the café as a "second office" — freelancers, start-ups, students, small meetings — and the etiquette of working there.

IVCoffee & working life

E14 Coffee for Farmers A cup before heading to the fields, a flask carried up the hillside, lunch breaks under the trees — coffee in the daily rhythm of the people who grow it.

E15 Coffee for Factory Workers A cup before the shift starts, a fifteen-minute break, long overtime nights — coffee in the rhythm of shift work, plus a few notes on caffeine and sleep.

E16 Coffee for Stock Traders Vietnam's 'price-board coffee' culture — a cup before the market opens, talk beside the price screen, and a coffee rhythm that follows the session.

E17 Coffee and School-Age Students Should school students drink coffee? Caffeine and growing bodies, sleep, energy drinks and healthier ways to stay alert — for parents and students.

E18 Coffee for University Students Budget cafés near campus, group study, exam season and coffee in a rented room — coffee in the university years, with tips for drinking in moderation.

E19 Coffee for Office Workers A coffee grabbed on the way to work, the office coffee corner, the post-lunch "wake-up" cup — coffee in the rhythm of an 8-to-5 working day.

E20 Coffee for Entrepreneurs Start-up ideas at a café table, a first meeting with a partner, a handshake over coffee — why the café is a familiar place to do business in Vietnam.

E21 Coffee & Leadership in Vietnam An early cup to think, morning coffee with the team, candid talks outside the meeting room — coffee in Vietnam's culture of decision-making.

VCoffee & the art of enjoyment

E22 Coffee & Books Why coffee and books go so well together, what a Vietnamese book café usually looks like, and how to set up a reading corner with a cup at home.

E23 Coffee & Music Acoustic cafés, old songs, instrumental music — how music and coffee come together in Vietnamese life, and how to enjoy music with a cup at home.

E24 Tea & Coffee — an Intertwined Culture In Vietnam, tea and coffee are not separate worlds — they share the same day, the same street, the same small café.

E25 Coffee & Mindfulness Drinking coffee slowly and attentively — how to turn your everyday cup into a few minutes of mindfulness that help the mind settle in a busy day.

E26 The Way of Coffee Not a ceremony and not a historical term — "the way of coffee" is a way of seeing a cup of coffee as a lesson in slowness, respect and having enough.

E27 Coffee & Football Culture Big screens, plastic stools filling the sidewalk, a whole street cheering — watching football at the café, a very Vietnamese way of sharing the game.

VITasting & standards

E28 How to Evaluate a Great Cup of Coffee How professional cuppers score coffee, what aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity and body mean, and how to taste coffee more carefully at home.

E29 Coffee Industry Standards & Certifications Green coffee grading, SCA/CQI scoring, Fine Robusta, HACCP, ISO 22000 and sustainability labels — what each one actually tells you.

VIIJourney & brand

E30 168 Years of Vietnamese Coffee From the first coffee trees in 1857 to one of the world's largest coffee producers — the key milestones in the story of Vietnamese coffee.

E31 The VINACANOFI Journey — From Farm to Cup The closing article: the journey of a cup of coffee, from Central Highlands gardens through processing and testing to your cup.