Java Twists: A Different Take on Coffee

You’ve probably heard of Vietnamese coffee, dripped slowly through a phin and poured over rich condensed milk. Vietnam, in the early 2000’s became the world’s second-largest producer of coffee and the largest producer of robusta beans. Robusta, as compared to its counterpart arabica, is cheaper and often used in exported instant mix coffee. Flavour-wise, I find I prefer robusta beans - it’s bolder, smokier and avoids the sometimes overly acidic taste I find in modern coffee shops using arabica beans. Vietnamese coffee is everywhere and cà phê sữa đá, or Vietnamese iced coffee, is a welcome respite from the heat.

Cong Caphe - a communist-era style cafe.

When we roamed the cafes of Hanoi, we were surprised to find that regular drip Vietnamese coffee was just the beginning of the many variations of cà phê around town. At Cong Caphe, a coffee shop in Hanoi steeped with nostalgic props, posters, metal cups - all reminiscent of Vietnam’s war-time communist era - we found a delightful twist on cà phê - yogurt coffee or, Cà Phê Sữa Chua. I didn’t think that yogurt would mix well with coffee but the tart, slightly sweet, and caffeinated concoction was perfectly refreshing on a hot day.

Enjoying our Cà Phê Sữa Chua or yogurt coffee on a hot day

If you think yogurt coffee sounded strange, we were told that we had to absolutely try another kind of coffee - Vietnamese Egg Coffee or ca phe trung, a local Hanoi creation. The originators of this famous style of coffee is Cafe Giảng, so we had to try it out! Trying to find this cafe was an adventure in itself, with narrow lanes, corridors and finally a packed cafe with low stools and tables. Ordering one egg coffee, it arrived in a bowl with hot water to keep it warm. We asked what went into an egg coffee and the ingredients almost sound like what you’d need to whip up cake batter: egg yolk (from a chicken), condensed milk, butter, and cheese! The final product was almost dessert in a cup: airy, rich, sweet and almost like tiramisu. Apparently, this style of coffee was invented when Mr. Nguyen Van Giang was struggling with a shortage of fresh milk and decided to replace it with egg yolks. This resourcefulness in a time of scarcity led to a huge success and is now a must-try Hanoi twist on coffee!

Hanoi Egg Coffee at Cafe Giang