Today we got up early as we had a coffee master class. Robin picked up some breakfast before we went to the coffee place.

The first coffee we made was a traditional Vietnam black drip coffee. The coffee we used was from robusta beans, 3x as strong as the usual arabica brews. We were advised to taste the coffee we made rather than finish them to avoid any heart problems! The coffee blend we used was typical for Vietnam; 70% ground bean and 30% coconut, coco powder, salt, and vegan butter. It took around 5 minutes for a 50ml coffee to drip through. The taste was strong but full of flavour profiles of the 30% additives.

Next we made ‘happy’ white coffee. This coffe gets its name from the sugary condensed coconut milk. The milk does not have the flavour of coconut, it is just made this way to be vegan friendly. We mixed a generous amount of condense milk with some frothed up cold brew of the black drip coffee. The frother we used looked like our electric toothbrushes. Robin and I both agreed that this was a dessert coffee and would’ve been nice with an ice cream. Very sweet.

Next we made egg coffee. The story behind this one is interesting. There have been times in Vietnamese history where condensed milk was not available. In an attempt to replicate it, people began using egg yolks. First you separate the yolk, then you add vanilla, sugar, honey, and a small amount of rice wine used to ‘cook’ the yolk into a pot. Next you froth the yolk until pale. Then you add the egg froth on top of a prepared black coffee. Nexts, using a Bain-marie or a small vandal, you cook the coffee egg further before drinking. Again we found this one very sweet.

After egg we attempted the Salt coffee. This came around from fishermen running out of clean water and so would attempt to filter and purify salt water. The end product was safe to drink but still salty and so salt coffee was made. We used whipping cream and oat milk with a pinch of Himalayan salt whipped up to create the salty foam. We then poured this into a prepared cold brew drip coffee. This was my personal favorite and the least sweet.

Next up was robins favourite, the coconut coffee. This was made again with oat milk and whipping cream shaken in a cocktail shaker together with the addition of coconut cream. This was poured into an iced glass and topped with a frothy coffee and with some condensed milk and some candied coconut chunks.

We walked out of the coffee course bright eyed and busy tailed from the caffeine. It was time to eat something so we settled on a Bahn mi. It was great and we are going back tomorrow!

After this we found a shirt for robin before taking the hostel shuttle to the beach. It was awful. Full of rubbish, cold, and cloudy. The hostel had also failed to mention that from extreme tides the water was right up to the edge leaving no sand and making it unsafe to swim. We found a quiet spot and read before the shuttle back.

Then we had a disappointing dinner. It was just very average.

-M