Ca Phe Culture and the Art of Being There

Vietnamese coffee sits on a level all its own. If I’m wrong, if more intense coffee exists somewhere in this world, I would prefer ignorance. I simply could not handle that sort of extreme.

There are two types of coffee one can order essentially anywhere in Vietnam (even while stopped at a red light on a motorbike): Ca Phe Den and Ca Phe Sua.

Ca Phe Den is black coffee with a spoonful of sugar. After watching a gross amount of sugar added to my coffee one day, I pictured my dentist rubbing his hands together like a greedy, little cartoon character thinking of the killing he will make off of my insurance company.

Aside from the days I feel rotten teeth might be worth it, I order a Ca Phe Den khong duong. Which is just a black coffee with no sugar. In doing so, I either look badass or suicidal. The added sugar serves as a necessary counter to the bitterness of the black coffee.

Ca Phe Sua is the real treat, however. Consisting of coffee and sweetened condensed milk, It tastes more like dessert than coffee.

The size of food portions here differ drastically from the US. The coffee is no exception. Perhaps for good reason as too much would certainly kill you which I cannot stress enough, people. It is that strong.

Initially the portion sizes of coffee upset me. Back home I drank an obscene amount of coffee each day. Ordering one cup in Vietnam is merely a fraction of a small coffee from Starbucks at home.

I also drank coffee for a much different reason back home. Sometimes I drank coffee for enjoyment and that comfort of the familiar taste, but typically I drank out of need. I couldn’t start my day without a cup and I probably couldn’t finish it without a second or third.

Here, the coffee culture demands that coffee not be seen as an engine to start the day or some magic liquid that promotes productivity. Rather, coffee should be drank at a leisurely pace. Each sip tasted and enjoyed.

Watching people sit in a cafe, drinking the same teeny cup of coffee for over an hour serves as just another beautiful, Vietnamese reminder to slow down.

Vietnam is like France in that a cafe stands in nearly every direction I look. The similarities stop there, however. Unlike Paris’s picturesque boutiques, Vietnam’s cafes often more closely resemble gas stations and rest stops. These run down little shacks with plastic chairs or hammocks show no interest in impressing.

Luckily I am here at a time when a good many cafes lay untouched. Unaffected by the worldly pressure to be beautiful enough to brag about on social medias. The only objective: delicious, life-decelerating coffee.

Though Vietnam has not yet caught up with the Instagram-worthy, trendy cafe scene so popular in the West, being that it is a developing country, those cafes are slowly starting to pop up in Vietnam.

A few doors down from my apartment is a french inspired cafe, painted red and overflowing with fresh flowers. Every single time I walk past, someone is having a personal photo shoot. Overdressed and completely posed. I have seen people go so far as to set up their own tripod and use a fan to create the illusion of wind.

If you’ve learned only one thing about me from reading my blog I hope it is that I’m not interested in supplying only the positives and filtering out the negatives. There lies no appeal in fabricating a glamorous life which I do not live. If you understand that, then you understand why I feel a bit sick each time I walk past this French-inspired cafe.

You'll also understand (and hopefully appreciate) my small act of rebellion as I make it a point to walk in the background of any photo opportunity I get.

I will not deny that I would rather write in an air conditioned cafe with wifi and a peaceful aesthetic, but I still so admire the cafes that refuse to change. Those uninterested in filling social media pages, but rather in supplying robust coffee and a place for disconnection in a constantly buzzing world.

Those are the cafes still invested in the lost art of being there, fully and truly. They demand a slower pace. Sip not just the coffee, but the moment as well.

Sure. The rest of the world may have coffee, but no one does coffee like Vietnam. Not in taste. Not in culture.