Nguyen Coffee Supply Review – Fair Trade Vietnamese Coffee
Vietnam has been producing coffee since colonial times. Introduced by the French, coffee cultivation took off and the Vietnamese adopted it as their beverage of choice, along with tea. Vietnam is one of the top 3 coffee-producing countries. Their production mainly consists of Robusta beans (up to 90% of the total) as opposed to the classic Arabica.
Origin
Nguyen Coffee Supply specializes in Vietnamese coffee. They are the first-ever Vietnamese-American owned importer and roaster of coffee beans from Vietnam in the USA. Nguyen aims to challenge the status quo that sees Arabica as the primary source of specialty coffee around the world, relegating Robusta beans to second place.
Unknown to some, Robusta is used in many coffee blends we normally drink. Possibly one of your favorites contains some Robusta, perhaps even Vietnamese Robusta. The dichotomy of “Arabica being good and Robusta bad” doesn’t hold true to honest scrutiny.
From Brooklyn, New York, Nguyen Coffee Supply imports and roasts premium Robusta and Arabica beans from Vietnam. Sustainable farming, transparency, inclusivity, and ethical sourcing are the key objectives that the company follows.
This is helping the local communities to earn a fair living from their hard work in producing some of the best coffee beans available. As Nguyen Coffee Supply directs, family-level contacts with farmers in Vietnam, the source line, and respect for the workers are guaranteed.
Products
Now!
How does Nguyen Coffee Supply taste? They split their offer into 3 unique blends: Loyalty, True Grit, and Moxy. Let’s see their qualities and characteristics.
Loyalty is the right introduction to the world of Robusta Vietnamese beans, as it contains both Arabica and Robusta. It is a bridge between the two types. Roasted to perfection, it provides a bold coffee, with hints of smoked caramel and cacao, while maintaining some of the mellower flavors from the Arabica beans. Pomelo and almonds provide a delicious sweetness and acidity that underlines the boldness of the Robusta beans.
Loyalty
True Grit, as you may tell from the name, is a much stronger tasting experience. As a 100% Peaberry Robusta, it is as strong as it gets, with around 2x the caffeine content of 100% Arabica coffee. If you’re looking for a kick of caffeine, True Grit is the one for you.
It is not just a strong coffee, but the carefully selected Robusta beans can provide various flavors. It is not every day that coffee can resemble both scotch and grapefruit, with the undertones of bitter melon. An outstanding example of how Vietnamese Robusta beans can be an excellent coffee.
True Grit
For those remaining faithful to the fully Arabica coffee, Moxy comes in to help. Selected with extreme care from the best Arabica farms in Vietnam, Moxy is the best Arabica that you can find from the country. A wild mix of berries, chocolate, cherry, and honey, Moxy is a flavorful and smooth coffee for when you need a tasty but not overwhelming cup.
Moxy
Health Benefits
But why choosing Robusta beans over Arabica at all, you might ask? Right. After all, Arabica is touted as the “best” coffee you can drink in multiple publications and by most roasters, so why Robusta? This variety of coffee plant has some definite advantages over Arabica.
If you’re health-conscious, Robusta contains more chlorogenic acid (CGA) than the average Arabica bean. Between 25-80% more. This acid helps reduce inflammation in the body, as most antioxidants.
Joint pain, skin issues, weight loss, and helping prevent diabetes are all helped by drinking a coffee high in CGA like Vietnamese Robusta. While Arabica coffee also contains chlorogenic acid, consuming more Robusta you will reap higher benefits than sticking to Arabica.
Coffee consumption can mediate levels of gut peptides. These are hormones that are involved in the regulation of satiety and insulin secretion. That means feeling the need to eat less, keeping more in control of insulin (vital for diabetes affected patients), and helping with your weight loss plans.
Rest assured, these health benefits are to be had with Arabica too. It’s just that with Robusta, being a different variety of plants and having different chemical components inside, these benefits are multiplied. Quality Robusta beans, like those in Nguyen Coffee Supply products are more effective in helping you stay healthy.
Vietnamese coffee isn’t just connected with producing. A large part of the economy is focused on farming and processing excellent coffee for exporting. But, as we said, the local population quickly adapted to drinking coffee as soon as the production started.
Nowadays Vietnamese coffee is not only a name to identify an origin but also a way to brew and drink coffee. Vietnamese coffee may then refer to both the beans and their provenience as to a coffee drink.
Phin Filter
Vietnamese coffee is brewed with a phin filter. Commonly found in ethnic shops all around the world, this little aluminum filter is the key to brew coffee as done in Vietnam, along with condensed milk.
You’ll need both, along with good Robusta-based coffee beans, like Nguyen’s. Vietnamese coffee was born to balance the strong and bold flavors of the Vietnamese Robusta coffee with the smooth and sweet taste of condensed milk.
How To Brew
To brew a Vietnamese coffee, warm up the phin filter with a bit of hot water. Then add about 1 tablespoon of coffee grounds to the filter.
Twist the filter until you feel some resistance. Don’t push too much, or it will compress the coffee grounds too much and have a negative influence on the brewing process.
Place then the internal filter on top of the grounds, pressing down gently until you feel a gentle crunch. Some phin filters come with a screw to fit this internal filter to the main body. Use it if you have such a type of phin filter, but always screw gently.
Now you’re ready to brew your Vietnamese coffee.
Put some condensed milk in a cup or glass, and place the phin filter on top of it. Quantity is up to you, but a handful of teaspoons are usually good to start.
Pour about 1 oz (30ml) of boiling water in the phin filter and let the coffee bloom. Around 3-5 minutes should suffice. Do not stir.
Then, add the rest of the boiling water (7 oz/200ml) and put the lid on the filter. Let the water drip into the cup or glass with the condensed milk, without stirring or pressing.
Once it has stopped dripping, stir with a spoon the coffee and condensed milk, allowing them to merge and you’re good to go.
Thanks to companies like Nguyen Coffee Supply you can enjoy superb Vietnamese coffee with the best Vietnamese beans available!