HANOI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- After finishing a 150-gram box of Yunnan coffee, Nguyen Ngoc Ly cut out the beans' flavor profile to add to her collection, a habit reflecting her fascination with specialty coffee from different origins.
The Hanoi coffee lover told Xinhua that she had ordered the box out of curiosity after members of specialty coffee groups on social media praised the beans from China's southwestern province.
She brewed the coffee using the pour-over method and sometimes served it with cold milk, finding its flavor so lively that it made a latte unlike any she had tasted before.
"The Yunnan beans have a very rich flavor, not the dark chocolate or bitter taste people usually expect from coffee," Ly said, adding that their fruity flavor and cooling qualities make them well suited to iced coffee on hot days.
Hanoi coffee specialist Pham Duy Anh said Yunnan beans are attracting interest among Vietnamese consumers, with many specialty cafes and roasters in the country now selling them.
He attributed their appeal to noticeably improving quality with each harvest and a range of processing methods that suit Vietnamese drinkers looking for new experiences.
"Diverse processing methods like washed, natural, honey and anaerobic have kept the beans from being boxed into a single flavor profile, giving drinkers notes such as mild wine, raisin, guava, tea and watermelon," Anh said, describing this as an advantage in a market that values diversity and personalization in the coffee experience.
In the northern port city of Hai Phong, Nguyen Minh Ngoc, owner of the Unbranded. café and roastery, began selling Yunnan beans in July 2024 after seeing how much their quality and processing had improved.
Ngoc said she brought in two batches of green beans, each weighing about 10 kilograms, and both sold out quickly. The first had jasmine notes, while the second had notes of watermelon, melon, peach and rose.
"Many customers return for a third and fourth time," Ngoc said, adding that Yunnan beans account for between 20 and 30 percent of customers' coffee selections at her small café, which also serves beans from Ethiopia, Kenya and Colombia.
Ly, too, has bought Yunnan beans again, saying the flavor is consistent, with one batch tasting no different from the next. She credits this consistency to Yunnan roasters' good control of anaerobic fermentation.
The local market remains largely limited to specialty coffee fans, but interest in Yunnan beans is rising fast in bigger cities, she told Xinhua.
From a market perspective, Anh said Yunnan beans stand at an interesting intersection: close enough to offer advantages in price and logistics, and new enough to spark discovery.
"If their quality keeps improving and the coffee is promoted through its flavors, the beans could well reach beyond today's circle of specialty coffee drinkers," he said. ■
