On a recent trip to Vietnam, my friend Quang in Hanoi offered to treat me on an egg coffee. I have known Quang for more than five years and on various occasions have joined him for coffee in the morning seated with the locals on small plastic stools outside a café, catching up over a cup of strong drip coffee or iced coffee with condensed milk. To order coffee in Vietnam is easy, it is pronounced cà phê, which shows its foreign origin and introduction by the French in the late 19th century.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee with condensed milk.
A cafe in Hanoi (Photo by Geoffrey Hiller)
The first coffee plantations were established by French colonists in Ninh Binh and Quang Binh provinces in the north where the tropical climate and fertile soil were suitable to cultivate the Arabica variety. By the 1920 plantations were set up in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, which is the area were over 80% of Vietnam’s coffee is cultivated.
Coffee plantations at Lâm Đồng - a province in Central Highlands of Vietnam
Quang explained, that the egg coffee is a specialty of Hanoi first introduced by a bartender called Nguyen Giang, who was employed by the iconic Metropole Hotel built in 1901. During a milk shortage in 1946, he improvised by making a substitute of creamy egg yolks and sugar. The hotel guests responded enthusiastically and as his fame grew Giang decided to quit his job and open a small coffee shop. His four kids have carried on the business and now run three cafés in Hanoi that serve the delicious egg coffee.
I watched the barista pouring a creamy mixture of whipped egg yolks, sugar and condensed milk over strong coffee. The result was an amazing velvety drink, which some have likened to a liquid tiramisu.
Coffee shops in Hanoi are central to the city’s social fabric, serving as communal spaces where people gather to discuss business, socialize, or simply unwind. They range from bustling street-side establishments to chic urban coffee houses showcasing local art, and hosting live music.
Robusta ground coffee for sale in a cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam (Photo by Paula Swart)
In recent years Vietnam has emerged as a major player in the global coffee market ranking among the world's top coffee producers. Vietnam currently is the world’s second largest coffee exporter after Brazil. The Robusta variety, with its robust flavour profile and higher caffeine content, constitutes the majority of Vietnamese coffee production.
Join Paula Swart on a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in 2026. Learn more here.
