# Vietnamese sugar roasted beans



## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

Picked these up in the Algerian as they'd sold out of last month's Indonesian Blue Sumatra beans.

Very interesting deep chocolate/vanilla taste, as a counterweight to the modern fashion for light roast, somewhat acidic, espresso it's revelatory.

I hadn't realised that it was roasted with sugar (which is apparently a vietnamese habit) until after buying, smelling and drinking it, and tbh it can get a bit sickly if you drink it every day, but as a one a day or every other day cup it's excellent. Good as a straight espresso and particularly good in cappuccino.

Anyone else tried these, and what did you think?


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

A lot of coffee in Spain is roasted with sugar. Very dark very shiny beans


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

sounds gross. If you watched that BBC documentary on Vietnamese coffee industry I think you would avoid!


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## ajh101 (Dec 21, 2013)

Missed it. Do tell?


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## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

aaronb said:


> sounds gross.


I don't care how it sounds, it tastes delicious.



aaronb said:


> If you watched that BBC documentary on Vietnamese coffee industry I think you would avoid!


What did it show?


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## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

Ah, this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25811724 ?


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sr67n

Well worth a watch.

Vietnam produces a lot of coffee, but none of it good. It's all commodity grade destined for Nescafe, no speciality grade. The sugar roasting is probably because it would taste foul on its own.

When I was in mid Vietnam (Hue IIRC) the coffee beans were just drying on the street by the road, next to animals/vechicles/everyone, sometimes not even on sheets.


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## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

aaronb said:


> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sr67n
> 
> Vietnam produces a lot of coffee, but none of it good. It's all commodity grade /QUOTE]
> 
> None? All? Seems a bit of an extreme judgement.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

I've never seen a speciality coffee roaster sell a Vietnamese coffee.


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## ajh101 (Dec 21, 2013)

aaronb said:


> I've never seen a speciality coffee roaster sell a Vietnamese coffee.


This says a lot!


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

There is a small amount of decent Arabica grown in Vietnam, not much yet but it is supposedly good quality and not Commodity grade.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Im sure the right roaster working with the right farmer could obtain something decent from there, however these things do not happen spontaneously


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

That's very true tbf.

Boot Koffie in The Netherlands source a coffee called 'Pride of Thailand' every year - when you get it freshly roasted it is delicious (sadly some of their retailers like to let the bags sit on these shelf for ages, when stale it is bland and boring). Never seen a good Thai coffee anywhere else.

Had a nice coffee made from Laos beans in Cambodia but I'd been without for weeks so it's hard to objectively judge.


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## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

ajh101 said:


> This says a lot!


Is the Algerian not a speciality coffee roaster?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Depends on your definition of specialty I suppose


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## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

A single shop selling and roasting coffee since 1887 sounds pretty specialised to me - they are also not up themselves in any noticeable way, a rare thing in modern life. These Vietnamese beans seem popular*, they even had a note on the door saying they were back in stock which is not something I've often seen there over many years of visiting.

(*I know popularity is not necessarily a guide to quality, but in a specialised shop it's a valid consideration)


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

aaronb said:


> That's very true tbf.
> 
> Boot Koffie in The Netherlands source a coffee called 'Pride of Thailand' every year - when you get it freshly roasted it is delicious (sadly some of their retailers like to let the bags sit on these shelf for ages, when stale it is bland and boring). Never seen a good Thai coffee anywhere else.
> 
> Had a nice coffee made from Laos beans in Cambodia but I'd been without for weeks so it's hard to objectively judge.


The current DSOL beans from Dusty Ape are certainly a specialty grade Thai coffee and very nice indeed, although too dark for either yours or Gary's tastes Aaron.

http://dustyape.com/collections/single-estate/products/thailand-doi-chaang-peaberry

I've had a couple of coffees made with Vietnamese Arabica beans whilst in Australia, roasted by Morgans Coffee who share premises with Zokoko an artisan chocolate manufacturer respectively run by a husband and wife team and it wasn't bad at all, I've certainly had far worse supposedly Specialty grade coffee here in the UK.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

mym said:


> Is the Algerian not a speciality coffee roaster?


No. I'd say it's more an old fashioned coffee shop, several of which are still in the UK (Wilkinson's in Norwich for example). They have a steady customer base, and keep on doing what they are doing. Lots of reports of stale coffee from them unfortunately.

At the most basic level a Specialty Coffee has a score of 80/100 or higher when cupped, but I'll admit this is very subjective.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Charliej said:


> The current DSOL beans from Dusty Ape are certainly a specialty grade Thai coffee and very nice indeed, although too dark for either yours or Gary's tastes Aaron.
> 
> http://dustyape.com/collections/single-estate/products/thailand-doi-chaang-peaberry
> 
> I've had a couple of coffees made with Vietnamese Arabica beans whilst in Australia, roasted by Morgans Coffee who share premises with Zokoko an artisan chocolate manufacturer respectively run by a husband and wife team and it wasn't bad at all, I've certainly had far worse supposedly Specialty grade coffee here in the UK.


Ah shame, I'd be right on that Thai if it was lighter!

Hopefully we get a decent Vietnamese coffee here soon then. The SE Asian countries have great growing conditions, it's just that lack of commitment to better coffee holding them back.


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## mym (Sep 15, 2009)

aaronb said:


> I'd say it's more an old fashioned coffee shop


I take your point. Probably why I like it - places like Ozone or Kaffeine can be pretty intimidating.

Speaking of which, I must go back and see how Atkinson's in Lancaster is these days, from the website it looks like it has possibly managed to hybridise the old and the new very successfully.



> Lots of reports of stale coffee from them unfortunately.


I've never had any - mind you, I mostly stick to the monthly high roast offer and some old favourites that get good throughput.

Wish I'd bought more of the Sumatran in March - tomorrow I'll get stuck into the kilo of Colombian Bucaramanga I just collected.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

mym said:


> I take your point. Probably why I like it - places like Ozone or Kaffeine can be pretty intimidating.
> 
> Speaking of which, I must go back and see how Atkinson's in Lancaster is these days, from the website it looks like it has possibly managed to hybridise the old and the new very successfully.
> 
> ...


I live there/here . It is thriving ...

3 cafés in Lancaster run by their sons

One of them is in the semis at the uk baristas Saturday


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

mym said:


> Speaking of which, I must go back and see how Atkinson's in Lancaster is these days, from the website it looks like it has possibly managed to hybridise the old and the new very successfully.


I've never been to Atkinsons but follow him on twitter and I think you nailed it there, they've managed to move forward into the current coffee trends but still retain their old customers and styles too. As Mr Boots says they always have people going far in the UKBC competitions. They've done something that very few business pull off so massive respect to them!


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

aaronb said:


> Ah shame, I'd be right on that Thai if it was lighter!
> 
> Hopefully we get a decent Vietnamese coffee here soon then. The SE Asian countries have great growing conditions, it's just that lack of commitment to better coffee holding them back.


It's not massively dark and oily etc, I've still got a couple of bags left and it's now at ideal post roast time according to the roaster so I can send you a sample to try if you like, or you could email Dusty Apre and ask them about a lighter roast version maybe.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

aaronb said:


> I've never been to Atkinsons but follow him on twitter and I think you nailed it there, they've managed to move forward into the current coffee trends but still retain their old customers and styles too. As Mr Boots says they always have people going far in the UKBC competitions. They've done something that very few business pull off so massive respect to them!


Exchange Coffee who are based in Blackburn but have shops in Clitheroe and Skipton as well as an espresso bar or two and a couple of coffee carts also manage this hybrid sort of thing that Atkinsons do so well and have specialty coffee, each shop also has a roaster in use in the window just like Atkinsons. The coffee I've tried from Exchange as beans has been really nice and they have a really good choice, it's just such a shame that their house blend is a french roast that kind of looks like gravel doused in used engine oil, when they roast a lot of much much nicer stuff.

I have seen a couple of other roasters that have Thai coffee but can't for the life of me remember which ones.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

aaronb said:


> I've never been to Atkinsons but follow him on twitter and I think you nailed it there, they've managed to move forward into the current coffee trends but still retain their old customers and styles too. As Mr Boots says they always have people going far in the UKBC competitions. They've done something that very few business pull off so massive respect to them!


There roasting isn't to everyone's tastes and they are v old school in some respects

i like their espresso blends , and it's great to see. A family run business , dad roasts and buys , sons run cafe etc.

plus you can tell they have a genuine enthusiasm and passion about what they do.

cafe balances the old and new well. Old Faema , but weighed in and out shots, syphons brewing Etc.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

ronsil said:


> A lot of coffee in Spain is roasted with sugar. Very dark very shiny beans


Yes that's true and for the OP benefit (as you know this Ron), It's called Torrefacto Roasting and usually they are blended with normal beans post roast. I'm pretty sure beans are sprayed, misted or tumbled with a sugar solution before roasting.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Charliej said:


> It's not massively dark and oily etc, I've still got a couple of bags left and it's now at ideal post roast time according to the roaster so I can send you a sample to try if you like, or you could email Dusty Apre and ask them about a lighter roast version maybe.


Thanks for the offer but I have tons of beans now so wouldn't get round to using them properly!


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

This thread got me interested so I ordered some of the Vietnamese, as well as a high roast Guatamalan and a Peruvian (I love my dark roasts). I just tried the Vietnamese in a CCD brew and, to me, it tasted almost like a flavoured instant coffee :-( I threw that down the sink and tried the Guatamalan. That wasn't much better - very little real flavour, kind of like a supermarket pre ground coffee. The dark roasts I enjoy tend to be rather oily but these were very dry and almost black. Maybe the Peruvian will be better but I'm not holding out much hope! I'd better get an order in with Coffee Compass before I run out of nice coffee...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

gcogger said:


> This thread got me interested so I ordered some of the Vietnamese, as well as a high roast Guatamalan and a Peruvian (I love my dark roasts). I just tried the Vietnamese in a CCD brew and, to me, it tasted almost like a flavoured instant coffee :-( I threw that down the sink and tried the Guatamalan. That wasn't much better - very little real flavour, kind of like a supermarket pre ground coffee. The dark roasts I enjoy tend to be rather oily but these were very dry and almost black. Maybe the Peruvian will be better but I'm not holding out much hope! I'd better get an order in with Coffee Compass before I run out of nice coffee...


Did thy have a roast date ? Sounds like they might be stale ...


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Boots, your signature reminded me of that famous Mohammed Ali quote, 'it is hard to be humble, when you are great as I am'.......


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

boots is a humble man


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> Boots, your signature reminded me of that famous Mohammed Ali quote, 'it is hard to be humble, when you are great as I am'.......


It's a quote ....lol from a man with two brains







and is tongue in cheek ( I'm sure you knew that already







)


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Did thy have a roast date ? Sounds like they might be stale ...


No, no roasting date (not even a 'use by' date). I suspect you're right, but I'm not convinced the beans I've tried so far would be much better when fresh. I think I should have gone for the medium roast as I'm guessing they would be a dark roast by 'normal' standards.


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