According to the writer, Southern writer Son Nam, in 1864, Saigon appeared the first two coffee shops owned by the French: Lyonnais (on Ly Tu Trong street today) and Café de Pari (located on Dong Khoi street today). now).

Coffee arrived in Hanoi later, of course following the French soldiers who attacked Hanoi citadel for the second time because in the military barracks, there was always a canteen to serve the commander and ordinary soldiers. After almost completely capturing Hanoi in 1882, just one year later, in 1883, the first coffee shop appeared on Tho Kham Street (now Trang Thi Street).

The Future of Tonkin Newspaper, dated August 5, 1885, wrote: "From 1884 to 1885, the number of coffee shops increased greatly, Hang Kham Street had Café du Commerce, Café de Paris, Café Albin, Café de la Place, Café Block. But the earliest and most famous is Café de Beira”. If Café du Commerce is exclusively for merchants, then Beira is the gathering place for officers. Beira's owner is an old woman. Before retiring, she sold canteens in the army.

(coffee tree planted in Vietnam since French time)

Following in the footsteps of the French army were merchants, seeing that the Central Highlands was basalt land, they began to plant coffee trees in 1870. In 1887, the French also planted coffee trees in Indonesia. Thus, Vietnam is the country that drinks coffee as well as grows coffee trees the earliest in Southeast Asia. However, no books mention who was the first Hanoian to drink coffee and who was the first coffee shop in Hanoi opened by Vietnamese people.

During this period, the Nguyen Dynasty mandarins in Tonkin, who had to interact every day with French officers, according to the Future of Tonkin newspaper, "were still unfamiliar with the drink that was as black as sewer water and had a bitter taste." "bitter post". We only know for sure that, in the early 20th century, Hanoi people were just getting acquainted and drinking coffee, but they were mainly young people from wealthy families returning from studying abroad in France or domestic intellectuals with progressive views.

(Coffee in Vietnam 1954 - 1975)

There are 5 types of coffee in the world. Americans, Germans, and Swiss make coffee by running boiling water through a filter bag; The idea is to let the water be forced under high pressure before flowing through the coffee powder. The French came up with the same type of coffee filter available in shops today in 1822. Although they both originate from France, there are differences between Hanoi coffee and Saigon coffee. During French rule, Saigon coffee was divided into two types: popular coffee and high-end coffee, while Hanoi only had one type. The owners of popular cafes in Saigon are mostly Chinese of Cantonese origin, but coffee is still just a side dish in the morning dishes.

(new modern coffee store with old style designed)

After breakfast, workers make a cup of brewed coffee before starting work, so the coffee is brewed in socks or rackets. That means putting coffee in a sock, then pouring boiling water through this sock many times until the person making it feels okay. There are shops that put ground coffee in a racket and then soak it in boiling water. These two mixing methods help the shop meet the number of customers who drink heavily in the morning. Both styles still exist today.

Meanwhile, coffee in Hanoi since the Western era has been brewed with a filter. In some crowded shops, they hire Hang Thiec workers to make large aluminum filters. A unique feature of Hanoi coffee is that people who love this bitter brown drink are mostly intellectuals and well-off traders. Workers mainly drink tea. Tea is both a traditional drink and a medicinal product (Dawn Nhat Tran Tra... Traditional physician), so they are not interested in coffee.

(view of Cong cafe in the corner of old street)

From coffee, people from many countries around the world have mixed chocolate, milk, a little wine, ice cream... to create over 100 products that meet the drinking preferences of different regions. Among those more than 100 products, Hanoi contributes something unique: egg coffee. The person who invented egg coffee was Mr. Giang.

Put black coffee in a small cup, add a little milk, a little sugar and just take the egg yolk (must be a chicken egg); then beat with bamboo chopsticks (the chopsticks have 6 spokes forming a diamond shape). , beat until the brown foam reaches the rim of the cup and gives off a fragrant aroma, then bring it out to the guests. Drinking egg coffee is attractive because it has "three tastes, two flavors" (fatty taste of milk, sweetness of sugar, bitter taste of coffee and aroma of chicken eggs, aroma of coffee).

In the 40s of last century, Mr. Giang was a bar staff at the Metropole Hanoi hotel, specializing in making coffee. However, it is brewed in the French style, which means very diluted coffee, sugar and fresh milk left out. Those who like to drink moderately sweet or sharp sweet or milk can add sugar or milk as desired. After quitting his job, he went home and opened a shop on Cau Go street and mixed it in his own style. He bought his own green coffee, roasted it, then ground it. He doesn't grind the coffee too finely, so when brewing with the filter, it never gets clogged.

After 1954, coffee in Hanoi became rare. Coffee sources from France and the Central Highlands no longer exist, coffee growing land in Nghe An is gradually shrinking. Instead, people imported coffee from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. However, coffee from Eastern European countries often has a sour taste, different from the taste of coffee from France or the Central Highlands. Private cafes are also fewer and fewer and are being replaced by state-owned cafes. Some state-owned coffee shops are quite crowded such as Bon Mua, Nguyen Sinh, Pho Hue... Coffee is only available black and iced. During the subsidy period, canned milk was scarce, so there was no milk coffee.

In early 1983, the interior of the Four Seasons restaurant was renovated and ceramic pieces of girls wearing ao dai and conical hats were mounted on the wall. The table was replaced by a large tree stump with a smooth surface. Chairs are also made of small tree stumps. Entering the shop, customers have the feeling that this is a cutting board exhibition, so many people call Four Seasons "cutting board" coffee. After all, this state-owned restaurant is the first to innovate, but the service style remains unchanged. Drinking coffee still has to line up and negotiate for more ice.

Lam Coffee Shop on Nguyen Huu Huan Street has been famous since the 60s of last century. The regular customers of this shop are famous writers and artists such as painters Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Sang, Duong Bich Lien, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Van Cao, Nguyen Trong Kiem, Luu Cong Nhan, Nguyen Sy Ngoc...

(Source: People's Newspaper)