Tucked through a narrow alley at 2D Quang Trung, a Frenchman named Erwan climbs the stairs to the second floor of a house. Behind the door lies a quiet, greenery-filled space dedicated to rare specialty coffees from around the world.
Erwan at the coffee shop on Quang Trung Street, Hanoi.
Having visited branches of the same chain in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, Erwan says he was delighted that his favourite beverages were now available in Hanoi. He works in import-export and has lived in Vietnam for more than 11 years. A coffee lover, he regularly enjoys black coffee, “bac xiu” (coffee with little milk), egg coffee, etc. For more variety, he occasionally visits specialty-coffee cafés.
Scanning the familiar menu, Erwan orders a Finca La Palestina Gesha, a coffee originating from the Huila highlands of Peru. Its price at the café is VND 250,000 (approximately USD 9.50). He notes its gentle floral aroma, deep after-taste and subtle sweetness.
In the relaxed setting, Erwan also receives an informational sheet explaining the story behind the specialty coffee. The café introduces the farm where the beans were sourced, the coffee variety, harvest year, altitude of cultivation, processing method, flavour notes, and producer cost (USD 39.70 per kg).
According to Nguyen Thi Bich Kieu, Customer Care Manager of the coffee-shop chain, providing the informational sheet not only helps customers understand the coffee they are drinking, but also shows the journey and value behind each cup, which explains why prices are higher than the norm.
The chain’s first outlet opened in Danang in August 2018 under a “roastery plus café” model. The Hanoi branch launched on October 29, 2025 and offers a menu of five specialty coffees brewed in various styles, with prices ranging between VND 125,000-750,000 (approximately USD 4.75-28.50) per cup.
Kieu explains that the coffees are imported from countries such as Peru, India, Ecuador, Colombia and other parts of the Americas. Each type is packaged in suitable quantities to optimise storage and brewing workflow.
The highest-priced drink at the store is “Sukkot Racemosa”, made from Racemosa beans, among the rarest coffee species in the world. This wild coffee variety is grown in a unique endemic region of South Africa at around 74 metres above sea level under special natural conditions. Its yield is extremely limited and it is meticulously cared for. “The farm we contract produces only about 100 kg a year. We managed to buy 40 kg to bring to Vietnam so customers at our five branches nationwide have access to this coffee. The purchase price at the farm was USD 200 per kg,” says Kieu.
According to the store representative, Racemosa beans are as small as green-bean size, only one-quarter the size of typical coffee beans. A cup sold at VND 750,000 (approximately USD 28.50) is made using the yield from two Racemosa coffee trees. With traditional wet-processing, Sukkot Racemosa delivers a complex flavour profile that evokes licorice, chrysanthemum flower and cocoa bean.
The café currently does not serve Vietnamese coffee because it is still researching suitable Vietnamese sourcing regions that meet its criteria.
