Vietnam is the largest coffee producer outside of Brazil. Introduced by French colonists in the 19th century, coffee cultivation in Vietnam has now become a $3 billion industry, accounting for nearly 15% of the global market, making Vietnam a coffee giant in Southeast Asia.

Only recently, however, has the quality of Vietnamese coffee begun to improve, largely because farmers have begun introducing the connoisseur’s favourite Arabica beans to the country’s long-standing, cheaper, easier-to-grow Robusta variety.

The biggest beneficiaries are cafés in Vietnam’s largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon. Thanks to direct “crop-to-shop” supply, coffee retail is booming, with more independent roasters and specialty cafes popping up around the city’s French colonial opera house, between the malls and boutiques on fashionable Dong Khoi Boulevard, and in the shadows of the high-rises of District 2.

Most Robusta beans are particularly bitter and caffeinated, so it’s no wonder that the Vietnamese traditionally use thick layers of sweetened condensed milk to mellow the flavor of this coffee, creating an almost milkshake-like concoction.

To learn about this national classic, head to this humble hole-in-the-wall shop, the oldest surviving cafe in the city, located in a hidden, low-lying area in District 3, not far from Nguyen Thien Thu Street, famous for its musical instrument shops. Here, resilient Madame Song and her two sisters continue the family’s daily operations unchanged since the 1930s.

Sentimental Vietnamese pop songs echoed against the sky-blue walls, tiles and mottled ceilings as women worked under a single light bulb in a small kitchen, scooping a mixture of Robusta, Arabica and Kuli (also known as male beans) with handheld cloth nets and dropping them into a pot of boiling water heated by a charcoal fire made from repurposed American oil barrels. After a second rinse—the water was stored in giant clay pots days in advance to allow impurities to sink to the bottom—the strong coffee liquid was poured into tall glasses and mixed with condensed milk.

If the result (25,000 Vietnamese dong, or about $1) isn’t silky enough for you, ask for a special garnish: a pat of French butter.

Sweeter concoctions await at Lacaph, an elegant new cafe in District 1, which is located right by the Ben Nghe River, a narrow canal that winds through the city. Decorated with ebony wall panels and track lighting, the cafe serves lemonade (VND80,000), a blend of coffee flower honey and coffee brewed in a traditional Vietnamese drip coffee pot (a stainless steel cup with an inner metal filter), while the store’s coconut coffee (VND80,000) is a blend of cold brew coffee, coconut milk, coconut syrup and coconut ice cream. Low-sugar options are plentiful, including espresso, latte and cascaras (VND60,000). Cascaras is a tea-like drink made from the skin of the coffee plant and fruit.

But the main attraction is their exhibition space, a side room filled with posters, maps, machines and even a vintage motorcycle – a popular mode of transport for Vietnamese growers – that explain the history of coffee in Vietnam, its producing areas, bean varieties, growing methods and production techniques.

For a deeper understanding, read the chapter “Coffee for Beginners” in the presentation copy of The Vietnamese Coffee Book.Published in 2022, with a foreword by Lacaph founder Timmen Swetink. You can also take Lacaph’s “Vietnamese Coffee and Culture” course, which is suitable for beginners.One of several coffee-themed experiences(450,000 to 650,000 VND).

Want to learn more about coffee? Head to Tan Dinh Vang, known for its 19th-century pink church and covered market filled with street food carts. This small, industrial-style cafe, with its grey, angular exterior, is ambitious in its educational aspects, offering hands-on workshops (300,000 to 660,000 VND) on everything from roasting coffee beans to latte art. Hardcore coffee lovers can take the “sensory training” course, two courses that teach you how to taste coffee like a pro, from understanding acidity to judging sweetness.

But 96B’s mission isn’t purely academic. The café serves five varieties of hand-brewed Vietnamese coffee, complete with tasting notes and individual shot glasses, like boutique wines, and experimental drinks like the Sun Cold Brew (VND85,000), a blend of iced coffee, ginger syrup, ginger jam, lemon cordial and rosemary.

Afterwards, customers can expand their knowledge by taking home a box of Vietnamese coffee beans in the store, the “Vietnam Coffee Atlas” (599,000 VND), with eight varieties showcasing coffees from different regions and styles in Vietnam.

A spacious, loft-style neo-industrial café off bustling Dong Khoi Street is probably the best place to test your coffee-tasting skills. A blackboard lists the variety of local and international coffee beans, and the menu of pictures lists countless preparation methods, from simple espresso to more complex brewing methods and infusion devices.

For high-tech coffee, opt for the siphon pot (VND135,000), a contraption of glass bulbs, tubes and knobs. The slow-drip technique is a test of patience but also a delight for the palate. Salt coffee with condensed milk (VND65,000) is a beloved salty-sweet coffee developed in the former imperial city of Hue.

The Workshop may also hold the award for the most extensive food menu of any café in the city, with everything from American breakfast (mango-lemon yogurt pancakes, 135,000 VND) to North African dishes (scrambled eggs with harissa, 155,000 VND) to French desserts.

This local café chain’s signature dish is its name: Egg Coffee (40,000 VND), a frothy, sweetened egg coffee flavoured with whipped egg yolk, condensed milk, sugar and vanilla, a Hanoi classic.

The main shop at 119/5 Yersin Street has an old-school décor: bamboo armchairs, printed cushions, checked rugs, wood-paneled TVs, reel-to-reel tape decks and shelves of dusty second-hand paperbacks. But visitors of all ages love the throwback vibe and the all-day breakfast menu (eggs galore).

Entering this minimalist gallery-like space, you’re greeted by soft indie rock music and the sound of fingers tapping on computer keyboards, where cool young people and global nomads eat noodles while typing away on laptops and baristas operate state-of-the-art Slayer espresso machines.

Decked out with exposed overhead pipes and colorful abstract paintings on the walls, the cafe serves espresso (including lattes made with its own pandan syrup for 90,000 dong), tempting juice blends (try the tasty jicama-guava-apple-ginger blend for 60,000 dong) and bags of its own roasted coffee beans.

By now, you may have developed a serious addiction to caffeine. If so, you are not alone in Saigon, there is a small, old-school coffee shop open 24 hours a day that provides a solution for everyone. Called Ca Phe Vot (Pure Coffee), this small garage space is hidden at 330/2 Phan Dinh Phung Street, a narrow alley in Phu Nhuan Fang, south of the airport.

During the day, while employees unload boxes of condensed milk, Fan Xue and Deng Kun use large pots filled with hot water to place filters containing robusta coffee beans into a charcoal stove made from a converted B-52 bomb. According to Fan Xue, the fire has never gone out since it was first lit in the 1960s. The history of the store dates back to the 1950s.

At night, they finish their shifts and return to their apartment across from the shop to sleep. But there are always pedestrians and skateboarders partying outside waiting to buy takeaway coffee. Driven by this nonstop demand, the cafe serves more than 500 cups of coffee a day (20,000 dong), which you can drink on the sidewalk or sit on low plastic stools in Ca Phe Vot’s shabby white-tiled salon across the alley.