<p>"Robusta coffee accounts for 97 per cent of Vietnam's total output" - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_production_in_Vietnam" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a></p>

<p>It's very likely you were drinking local pure robusta coffee.  Among other things, the increased caffeine content makes it more bitter.  But, robusta flavor is also generally considered inferior to arabica. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-06T14:13:21.510Z
I agree to Chris' point. Very probably it's pure Robusta. In the rest of the world we hardly encounter pure Robusta. Any blend is generally use Arabica for aroma and the rest of the bag is filled up with Robusta.
MTSan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-08T07:56:00.130Z
There are fantastic Vietnamese coffees ...
Martin Peters
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-06T02:56:03.047Z
2016-04-06T02:56:03.047Z
Suspended User
<p>I'm pretty sure the coffee you were drinking was a mix of coffee and chicory.</p>
<p>I had a lot of it in Vietnam when I was there.</p>
<p><a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0000E5JIU" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Coffee Chicory Blend.</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-14T02:38:36.423Z
When you give a link like that, please do annotate with what the link is: e.g., a coffee-chicory blend. Welcome to [coffee.se]!
hoc_age
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-04-13T23:26:07.350Z
2022-10-24T23:54:48.077Z
2022-10-24T23:54:48.077Z
Peekay
<p>In Vietnam about six types of coffee blends are available, it is a coffee producing country.</p>

<p>One of them is an Arabica coffee, usually served in restaurants and sold at the open markets on the street. If you ask for Arabica, you will get this variant. It does take some communication skills using your hands and feet to make it clear to market salesmen. In Vietnam only the young and the elite speak English. You should be able to buy a drip filter:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AvQgI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AvQgI.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
You don't use tap water in Vietnam, not even for brushing your teeth. So you also need bottled water to make coffee.</p>

<p>The other five are local products. Some of them are said to taste like chicory. Anyway they have a bad taste if you're not used to them. 
But they are really not chicory, they are blends from indigenous coffees like Arabica SE, Chari (a type of Liberica), Catimor. Also Arabica and Robusta are produced in Vietnam.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-28T15:32:51.207Z
2017-10-28T17:05:29.733Z
2017-10-28T17:05:29.733Z
Antoin Koeman
<p>When traveling in Vietnam and Cambodia, I noticed that the coffee had a very different taste, compared to anything I've had in the U.S.. I'm talking about black coffee, not <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_iced_coffee" rel="nofollow">Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk</a>. It's hard to describe the difference; it seemed a little bitter or sour.</p>

<p>What accounts for this different taste? Is it <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica" rel="nofollow">arabica</a> vs <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robusta_coffee" rel="nofollow">robusta</a>? Or just a local difference in the beans?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-05T22:16:48.343Z
Possible duplicate of [What are the basic parameters that affect the flavor?](http://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/2662/what-are-the-basic-parameters-that-affect-the-flavor)
Geo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-06T00:43:58.117Z
Can you provide more detail about the coffee? For example, was it "light" (pale, translucent) or "dark" (dense, opaque)? Geo's link illustrates a battery of parameters; for example: bitter can come from over-extraction or darker beans, sour can come from under-extraction or lighter beans... and the two tastes are fundamentally different! My best guess is that the style was something like French press or drip made with a metal filter. [This page](http://anhsfoodblog.com/2011/02/delicious-vietnam-10-deconstructing.html/) calls this variety "cà phê đen".
hoc_age
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-06T01:05:24.563Z
@hoc_age: Usually on the darker side. But I've had a variety of styles at home: light/dark, french-press/drip/espresso, etc., and this seemed like a fundamentally different taste. Your link and [this one](http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/about-vietnamese-coffee.php) make me think it might have been a combination of factors rather than just one.
JW.
<vietnam>
Different-tasting coffee in Vietnam/Cambodia
JW.
# Different-tasting coffee in Vietnam/Cambodia

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-05)

When traveling in Vietnam and Cambodia, I noticed that the coffee had a very different taste, compared to anything I've had in the U.S.. I'm talking about black coffee, not [Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_iced_coffee). It's hard to describe the difference; it seemed a little bitter or sour.

What accounts for this different taste? Is it [arabica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica) vs [robusta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robusta_coffee)? Or just a local difference in the beans?

**Tags:** vietnam

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possible duplicate of [What are the basic parameters that affect the flavor?](http://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/2662/what-are-the-basic-parameters-that-affect-the-flavor)  
> **username_2**: Can you provide more detail about the coffee? For example, was it "light" (pale, translucent) or "dark" (dense, opaque)? username_1's link illustrates a battery of parameters; for example: bitter can come from over-extraction or darker beans, sour can come from under-extraction or lighter beans... and the two tastes are fundamentally different! My best guess is that the style was something like French press or drip made with a metal filter. [This page](http://anhsfoodblog.com/2011/02/delicious-vietnam-10-deconstructing.html/) calls this variety "cà phê đen".  
> **username_0**: @username_2: Usually on the darker side. But I've had a variety of styles at home: light/dark, french-press/drip/espresso, etc., and this seemed like a fundamentally different taste. Your link and [this one](http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/about-vietnamese-coffee.php) make me think it might have been a combination of factors rather than just one.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-04-06. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

"Robusta coffee accounts for 97 per cent of Vietnam's total output" - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_production_in_Vietnam)

It's very likely you were drinking local pure robusta coffee. Among other things, the increased caffeine content makes it more bitter. But, robusta flavor is also generally considered inferior to arabica.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I agree to Chris' point. Very probably it's pure Robusta. In the rest of the world we hardly encounter pure Robusta. Any blend is generally use Arabica for aroma and the rest of the bag is filled up with Robusta.  
> **username_5**: There are fantastic Vietnamese coffees ...  

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### Answer by username_6 on 2016-04-13. Score: 2

I'm pretty sure the coffee you were drinking was a mix of coffee and chicory.

I had a lot of it in Vietnam when I was there.

[Coffee Chicory Blend.](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0000E5JIU)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: When you give a link like that, please do annotate with what the link is: e.g., a coffee-chicory blend. Welcome to [coffee.se]!  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2017-10-28. Score: 1

In Vietnam about six types of coffee blends are available, it is a coffee producing country.

One of them is an Arabica coffee, usually served in restaurants and sold at the open markets on the street. If you ask for Arabica, you will get this variant. It does take some communication skills using your hands and feet to make it clear to market salesmen. In Vietnam only the young and the elite speak English. You should be able to buy a drip filter:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/AvQgI.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/AvQgI.jpg)
You don't use tap water in Vietnam, not even for brushing your teeth. So you also need bottled water to make coffee.

The other five are local products. Some of them are said to taste like chicory. Anyway they have a bad taste if you're not used to them.
But they are really not chicory, they are blends from indigenous coffees like Arabica SE, Chari (a type of Liberica), Catimor. Also Arabica and Robusta are produced in Vietnam.


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