Sua cafe Vietnamese coffee-making experience
Written by Eloise Jones on June 11, 2025
The Venue
Tucked away on the outskirts of Hoi An’s marigold maze of tailors and eateries is a small, vegan cafe, run by two Vietnamese sisters and staffed by a small cohort of deaf and disabled locals.
Sữa cafe is part of the Ong Vang charity project which in the past 7 years, has built 13 schools and provided food and clothing to impoverished communities in Hoi An. A portion of the profits from the cafe goes directly towards funding this effort.
After experiencing the peak of Vietnam’s coffee culture in the chaos of Ho Chi Minh City, where cafes on every corner serve their potent, sugary nectar until the early hours of the morning, a Vietnamese coffee tasting experience was high on our list as we continued our journey into the country's central region.
Being the world’s second largest producer of coffee, I’m sure there are cafes all over the country that would provide a wonderful, comprehensive coffee making and tasting class. But the experience provided at Sữa cafe was truly unique, and learning about the cafe’s cause made our visit all the more special.
The Experience
It was a hands-on, laughter-filled morning that left us trembling with the caffeine shakes.
We sampled four coffees during our experience. After spending our time in Saigon with egg-foam moustaches dancing on our top lips, I was convinced we’d walk away proclaiming the famed Vietnamese egg coffee our top choice.
But to my surprise, I fell head-over-heels for coconut coffee instead.
We stood at a blender, pulsing together the thick, sugary concoction of coconut milk, condensed milk and ice, before dumping it into a freshly brewed pot of robusta goodness. It was coffee and dessert rolled into one, and I knew from the first sip that I’d never be going back to normal coffee again.
We've become coconut coffee fiends... check out the salted coconut coffee in the top right
As somewhat of a history buff, I appreciated the historical facts scattered throughout our coffee making experience. We learnt about the history of egg coffee, which was invented in 1940s Hanoi due to a milk shortage, and also about the production ethics of such a big coffee industry.
It was such an enriching session that we actually bought two of the Vietnamese phin drip filters to take with us on the rest of our journey.
They look like miniature cup-and-saucer sets: a small bowl with filter holes sits atop a small plate, also with filter holes. After putting the ground coffee inside the bowl, another metal filter sits on top. Water is poured over, and the lid is placed on top. Then, you wait. Seven minutes is the recommended time to allow all the coffee to drip through.
A feat of engineering. You can see the effort in my face.
Another personal highlight for me (and I was devastated we didn’t have the opportunity to purchase one of these to go along with the phins) was using the pump-style hand whisks the Vietnamese use to froth their coffee.
Imagine those tiny coffee frothers you find in most Western households these days, but make it manual. I’ve searched high and low to buy one since, and I won’t rest until I do.
The Wildcard
At the end of our session, we were taken over to a table scattered with scraps of fabric stretched over small wooden triangles. A deaf staff member guided us through the surprise activity: crafting traditional Vietnamese lanterns, much like the ones that famously drift along the Hoai river every evening.
Whose is the most beautiful? Do let us know.
I’m unsure what the differentiator was, but from the whole cohort who did the coffee tasting, it was just Ramiro and I who sat down to make the lanterns, which was a really nice, personal experience to have with the staff.
It was also nice to have a little memento to take away from our absolute favourite day in Vietnam. Our lanterns are now safely tucked away inside a notebook, ready to take pride of place when we eventually reach our forever home.
The Verdict - Roast or Toast?
If it wasn’t already clear, Sữa Cafe and all of its wonderful staff members get a huge TOAST from us. As I mentioned previously, coffee tastings and coffee making classes aren’t at all hard to come by in Vietnam, but if you’re going to be passing through Hoi An or Da Nang, I would truly suggest attending Cafe Sua.
Not only are you helping to fund a great cause, but you’ll walk away from the experience feeling informed, inspired, and dizzy with that energized buzz.
We booked our experience through Airbnb, and it cost just A$27 each, including the four coffees, lantern making and a plate of garlic bread and fruit selection to close the session.
Have you travelled anywhere that you’d go back to just for the coffee? We’d love to know. Shoot us a DM so we can chat, and maybe it’ll end up on our Roasts and Toasts bucketlist.
Catch you for our next roast or toast!
Lots of love
Eloise and Ramiro Xx
Sua cafe, Hoi An