Vietnam is quickly bursting onto the specialty coffee scene after traditionally dominating the robusta market. We were delighted to find these delicious beans and couldn’t wait to offer it to you, our customers, as a testament to how great Vietnam coffee has become.

About the Farm:

This special coffee is produced in Dung K’no Village, 40 kilometers away from DaLat. The farers here are part of one of many ethnic minorities in Vietnam, known as the K’Ho people, a matriarchal community. They were initially a nomadic people, but have now settled in the mountains of the Lam Dong province.

About THE PROCESSING + Fermentation METHOD:

This Vietnam Black Lotus is an Anaerobic Natural. Let’s break that down:

• Anaerobic Fermentation: Once the coffee cherries have been harvested, sorted and dried—they are placed in airtight, steel tanks to ferment. Once the coffee enters the steel chamber, it’s kept here anywhere between 40-60 hours, with the intent to remove all oxygen from its tank. When oxygen is introduced to a coffee, it can age the coffee, speeding up the fermentation timeline. Conversely, when oxygen is removed, the coffee is allowed to ferment slowly. It’s given space and time to develop a more complex flavor profile, resulting in a punchy explosion of fruity flavors. Though in order to remove the oxygen from these massive steel tanks, something new must be introduced. This something else is Co2, and when pumped into the tanks, it presses the oxygen up and out.

• Natural Process: Coffee is traditionally processed in three ways: washed, natural, and honey. Most specialty coffees are processed using the ‘washed’ method as it fully removes the bean (seed) from the coffee cherry which allows no additional sugars or flavors to be imparted on the bean in the drying phase - this helps produce a ‘clean’ cup and allows the consumer to only taste the varietal and the growing region and it’s conditions (soil, nutrients, climate, etc). The Natural process (also known as ‘dry process’) is a processing method where the coffee cherries are left in tact and set to dry in the sun - allowing the natural sugars and fruity flavors of the coffee cherry to soak into the bean. This helps produce noticeably fruity or “pulpy” flavors, usually described as “winey” - but it can also have strong nutty or chocolate characteristics, and usually has a heavier or more viscous body compared to a washed coffee.

Tasting Notes:

This Vietnamese brew offers a smooth, thick body in the cup as well as fruity notes of blackberry and strawberry jam, along with sweet vanilla and fudge chocolate.

Please Note:

This coffee is a premium offering and, as a result, comes in an 8 ounce bag. Due to it’s limited availability we cannot offer it in a larger bag size.