Giving Coffee A Shot

Xin chào!

I’m over halfway through my time here in Hanoi and my project is well and truly on its way. I’ve spent the last few weeks cleaning up the data in preparation for statistical analysis which hopefully will show some interesting results. Since moving to Vietnam I’ve noticed a few quirks about the place. The main one being the traffic. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the sheer volume of scooters and piercing beeping that constantly flood the city. But more importantly, the selection of coffee shops here is incredible! I’ll admit, I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker back in Ireland but I couldn’t travel the whole way and not give it a try (especially when my thesis involves coffee!). The annual coffee production of Vietnam is around 1.5 million tons with 88% of the total coffee grown in the Central Highlands (ICO, 2018). The population of this region is ~5.4 million people with over 40% earning some income from coffee production (D’haeze, 2014). Nearly 600,000 ha of coffee (Coffea canephora var Robusta) is grown in this region (USDA, 2017) which is made up of five provinces- Dak Lak (the largest province), Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong (Dzung et al., 2013). It’s surprising just how many farmers are reliant on coffee production for their livelihoods and also explains the reason behind so many cafés clustered in the city.

Above are a few photos from my regular weekend trips to try find the best coffee in Hanoi. I’d highly recommend trying the coconut coffee or cà phê dừa as it’s called in Vietnamese.

Talk again soon,

Shauna-Rose