Want to try out real Vietnamese coffee? The Nguyen Coffee Supply can help you do so. Nguyen Coffee supply debunks the myth that Arabica coffee is the only delicious variety. What better way to prove this than with Vietnamese coffee?
There’s a reason why the country is the largest producer and exporter of robusta coffee. Plus, it’s only the second best overall coffee producer in the world after Brazil. But, this doesn’t mean you can get the best Arabica coffee from Vietnam.
This Nguyen Coffee supply review takes you on a deep dive into what this amazing Vietnamese coffee brand offers, whether it's coffee, traditional coffee brewers for the authentic taste, or even the merch you need.
What Is Nguyen Coffee Supply?
Nguyen Coffee Supply is America’s very first woman-owned and runs specialty Vietnamese coffee company. The brand particularly focuses on championing the robusta coffee bean, although it also carries the very best of Vietnamese Arabica coffee (which accounts for only 10% of the country’s total coffee production).
In addition to its specialty Vietnamese coffee, the company is special for its direct trade and sourcing of sustainable coffee. Founder, Sahra Nguyen, first generation entrepreneur activist, personally sought and maintains direct trade relationships with Vietnamese coffee farmers.
Ultimately, the mission is to not only get Vietnamese coffee closer to US consumers. Nguyen Coffee Supply aims to “elevate resilient robusta as the sustainable future coffee and transform the landscape through economic advancement for Arabica and robusta farmers across the world”.
One of these many examples is the brand’s close working relationship with 4th generation Vietnamese farmer, Mr. Ton, who owns and operates his family farm in Vietnam’s famed central highlands.
Mr. Ton’s farm is the brand’s top supplier of organic green beans imported to the US to freshly roast the beans and enjoy them in various brewing styles. So far, Nguyen Coffee Supply is on the right track.
The brand is not only loved by its consumers. It has also been featured on multiple prominent platforms including Wall Street Journal, Vice, New York Times, Forbes, and Food and Wine. Sahra has also scooped awards for the brand including the 2019 Star Chefs Rising Star Award for the best roaster.
A Look At Nguyen Coffee Supply Products
Nguyen Coffee Supply carries a wide range of coffees, brewing kits, and its own in-house merchandise. Every coffee listed on the Nguyen Coffee Supply’s product listing comes in two options. You can opt for freshly roasted whole beans and grind them yourself.
Alternatively, you can go for the freshly ground airtight packed option so you can go straight to brewing. In fact, the company’s ground coffee is adjusted to a fine consistency dialed just perfectly for the traditional Vietnamese Phin filter brewers. This allows you to extract the flavor how it is supposed to be and to enjoy the full personality of the coffee.
Further, when it comes to the whole bean or ground packaging, you can opt for the standard 12-ounce bag or a bigger 5-lb bag.
The company has several inaugural offerings which include;
Classic Black Cold Brew
The Classic Black Cold Brew is exactly what its title suggests. The ready-to-drink product is made from 100% Vietnamese robusta cold brew, giving it a smooth, bold, and strong robusta taste. It contains 100% natural ingredients with zero added sugar, dairy, or gluten. The robusta cold brew is also shelf-stable. You can always pick up your order in a 6 or 12-pack.
Loyalty Blend
The best selling Loyalty blend champions the mix of both Vietnam’s beloved single-origin robusta and Arabica coffee beans. This blend is specifically roasted and mixed for people who want a smoother blend.
It offers a bold, sweet, and nutty taste that is sure to wake your taste buds. The coffee unleashes subtle notes of cacao, pomelo, almond, and smoked caramel. You can best enjoy this medium-roasted coffee blend by brewing in a Phin filter, drip, espresso machine, or French press.
While the Loyalty blend offers a more balanced profile, it still gives you twice as much caffeine strength, thanks to the robusta beans. On the other hand, the Arabica in the blend provides twice as many antioxidants.
The best part of Nguyen Coffee Supply’s coffee is that they give you up to 60% less sugar and fats – so, they give a pretty reasonable healthy bargain!
Moxy
The Moxy blend is specially roasted for drinkers who enjoy an ultra smooth coffee with fruity afternotes. So, this blend is the exact opposite of the stronger Truegrit blend that comes with somewhat high acidity.
The Moxy is a rare specialty blend because it uses 100% single-origin Vietnamese Arabica. Vietnam Arabica makes up only 10% or less of the country’s overall coffee production. The medium roasted beans feature intoxicating flavor notes of wild berries, chocolate, cherry, and honey. You can brew the best Moxy coffee cup using a drip, French press, pour-over, or espresso machine.
Truegrit
If you want to get your hands on the strongest coffee this coffee house offers, you can’t go wrong with Truegrit. Made from 100% peaberry robusta, this coffee blend delivers nearly double the caffeine content. The Truegrit blend contains twice as much caffeine as the Moxy blend.
Peaberry robusta beans are special because they bear two beans in one pod instead of the usual single bean in each pod separated by a thick membrane. This, in turn, not only up the caffeine content but, also gives the bean a bold and more sophisticated flavor profile when roasted.
Peaberry also accounts for a very small percentage of all harvested beans – so it’s come to be considered a special bean. The medium-roasted beans also produce the distinct flavors of Vietnamese robusta, giving you a taste of scotch, grapefruit zest, and bitter melon. To enjoy an exquisite cup of coffee, brew these beans in a drip, Phin filter, or French press machine.
Saigon
The Saigon blend is representative of the Vietnam city’s dynamic and progressive nature. The blend combines the unique qualities of Vietnamese Arabica and robusta coffee beans to give you an indisputably delicious coffee profile and taste.
The dark roasted blend boasts flavor notes of salted cacao, blackberry, and hazelnut. The Saigon blend is best enjoyed brewed in an espresso, Phin filter, French press, or drip machine.
Hanoi
The 100% single-origin Vietnamese robusta Hanoi blend is reflective of the nation’s capital. The Hanoi roast is full of character and reflects the traditions of the city of Hanoi. Incorporating 100% robusta beans, this dark roast blend naturally amplifies the boldness of the beans while still being a classic brew.
The Hanoi roast boasts notes of tobacco, prunes, and graham crackers and is best enjoyed brewed in an espresso, Phin filter, pour-over, or drip machine.
Dalat
The Dalat, on the other hand, contains 100% single-origin Vietnamese Arabica coffee beans. Another exquisitely represented city in Vietnam, Dalat is relaxed and tranquil, lined with lush emerald forests. This coffee roast represents this – oozing natural sweetness, reminiscent of the relaxing city.
Reflecting the sweet natural scent and scenery of Dalat, the coffee blend packs notes of jasmine, ganache, and strawberry. Dalat roast is recommended to brew in an espresso, Phin filter, pour-over, or drip machine.
Limited Edition Moka
The Nguyen Coffee Supply offers a special limited edition Moka or mocha bean roast. This is the brand’s first non-Vietnamese native coffee beans. Originating from Yemen, the roast uses 100% Moka or mocha AKA Arabica bourbon beans prized for their smooth, velvety, and chocolatey profile.
However, these beans are still grown and harvested in Vietnam, particularly in Da Lat. When brewed, the beans produce velvety cocoa, pear, and candied pecan flavor profile. But, there’s a catch. To get the best of the best, special care is taken when growing these beans.
As a result, a limited amount of beans are harvested to make this a pretty rare roast. Nguyen Coffee Supply’s partner single farm only harvests and exports 30 bags only (equivalent to 132 lbs) per year.
Medium & Dark Roast Bundles
If you can't decide which roast to go for, or if you are a beginner and trying out the favors, the company has a solution. you can always go for their Original Vietnamese Coffee Trio. This pack contains 12-ounce bags of Moxy, Truegrit, and Loyalty.
You can even choose whether you want ground coffee or freshly roasted whole beans. If you prefer darker roasts, you can opt for the Dark Roast Coffee Trio, comprising Dalat, Hanoi, and Saigon instead.
Brew Tools: The Phin Filter
In addition to coffee, Nguyen Coffee supply honors another key Vietnam tradition. To truly enjoy the taste of Vietnamese coffee, the company also sells the traditional Phin filter tool. The Phin Drip Coffee Brewing set or Phin filter is a traditional Vietnamese coffee brewing tool. The Phin filter comprises four key parts, i.e. lid, tamper, chamber, and plate.
The set comes in a choice of three sizes. These include a single-serve 4-ounce filter, a 1 to 2-person 12-ounce filter, and a multi-person 24-ounce filter. You can also buy all three in the special Phin filter trio set.
Grab yourself a Phin drip coffee set. Or, immerse yourself fully into this whirlwind coffee culture exploring adventure by investing in the brand’s Vietnamese Coffee Brew Kit. This kit comes with a Phin Drip Coffee set, a Dark Roast coffee trio, and scoops for the coffee.
It functions like an espresso portafilter. However, hot water in this tool passes through gravity instead of pressure. To use, tamp coffee into the chamber and leave the tamper there. Pour hot water into the chamber and put the lid on top to let the coffee drip.
The Phin filter sold by Nguyen Coffee Supply is handcrafted by Vietnamese female artisans to give you the real feel of the traditional tool. This brewer is made using stainless steel and high quality borosilicate glass for long lasting durability and extreme temperature-proof performance.
Nguyen Coffee Supply’s Subscription Program
If you can’t get enough of Nguyen’s coffee, you can opt for their subscription program. In addition to receiving a 5% discount, setting up a subscription account allows you to enjoy free shipping in most US locations. To set up your subscription here’s what you do;
- Pick the roast you want, e.g. Loyalty, Moxy, Saigon, etc.
- Choose between whole bean or ground coffee
- Choose how much coffee you want – one (12-ounce bag – makes up to 24 cups), two (2 x 12-ounce bag), or three (3 x 12-ounce bag)
- Choose how often you want to receive your supply – every week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks
- Confirm your order, pay, and wait for your coffee to arrive
Nguyen Coffee Supply Where To Buy The Coffee
The Company is based in Brooklyn, New York. However, Nguyen Coffee Supply Brooklyn has a fully fledged official website where you can browse its products and enjoy placing your orders. The company ships across the United States.
If you are in New York, you can purchase Nguyen Coffee Supply coffee beans and ground coffee from several markets across all New York boroughs. On the other hand, if you want to try the coffee already brewed, Nguyen Coffee Supply partners with a good number of restaurants and cafes across the US.
You can find the complete list of vendors and partner restaurants and café on the official Nguyen Coffee Supply website.
ABCs of Vietnamese Coffee
Did you know Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee producer after Brazil and the largest robusta producer?
Coffee is an essential part of daily life in Vietnam and this tradition can be traced back to the mid-1800s. Coffee was first brought to Vietnam by the French in 1857 during colonial times. However, its production grew after the Vietnam War when the government established a massive coffee-producing program.
Today, the country produces millions of tons of coffee annually.
The primary coffee variety produced in Vietnam is robusta, accounting for more than 90% of the total production. Arabica only accounts for 10% or less. Robusta isn’t usually a popular coffee variety of choice amongst western coffee drinkers.
But, Vietnam has done a particularly great job so far at reducing this misleading belief. Nonetheless, the country still has a long way to go. After all, big corporations still view coffee as being “not-so-good quality”.
Generally, robusta tends to have earthier flavor notes with a thicker lingering aftertaste, higher acidity, and some bitterness. Robusta also offers twice the caffeine strength of Arabica. Vietnamese robusta coffee typically grows in the temperate central highlands (in provinces such as Da Lat) of the country.
The basalt volcanic soil in this area is perfect for cultivating coffee that achieves the characteristic mocha notes. This soil is also perfect for growing cacao and pepper (which are other popular food crops grown in the country).
In fact, the soil conditions in the central highlands of Vietnam are what separates its robusta coffee from robusta grown in other regions. For example, unlike the somewhat smoother and bolder Vietnam robusta, robusta coffee grown in the northwestern region of Tanzania, Kagera, develops a thicker, mellow, and earthier taste.
The coffee from this region typically grows in non-volcanic soil conditions. Further, its climate slightly varies from that in the highlands of Vietnam. Roasting the whole beans to a medium to dark roast consistency brings out the best flavor and body of the coffee.
Vietnamese typically take their coffee with sweetened condensed milk, whether hot or cold. The sweet, sugary condensed milk does a fantastic job of undercutting the strong acidity and slight bitterness of the coffee. Yet, it allows you to enjoy the full essence of the coffee.
Meet the expert
Donaldina is a coffee lover and freelance writer from Tanzania. Coffee runs deep in her family - tracing its roots to her grandmother’s running of their first coffee farm in the mid-70s. She enjoys spending her time writing and co-running her grandmother's small robusta coffee farm with her sister in northwest Tanzania during the summer seasons.