During his visit to Vietnam in May 2024, reporter Lee Moon-su of Nongmin newspaper ( Korea ) had the opportunity to experience Hanoi culture for 4 weeks. He learned and immersed himself in the lifestyle of local people, discovering cuisine and habits in the capital.
"It is a culture that foreigners will find fascinating, things you can never find in books or travel guides but have to experience firsthand to know. This unique culture exists in Vietnam," reporter Lee Moon-su opened the article.
One of the things that surprised author Lee is that Vietnamese people always put ice in their beer, even very large ice cubes.
"Even though the beer itself is cold, it's strange to see people pouring ice cubes into a glass of beer to make it cooler. When I visited a restaurant, I was quite surprised when the waiter asked 'Do you want some ice? some ice?'. Personally, I think it's worth a try, but when the ice melts, the beer will taste worse," reporter Lee shared.
Korea's Veyond magazine was also surprised when Vietnamese people drank beer with ice. The author believes that adding ice is a temporary solution to keep beer cooler in hot tropical weather.
"It has become a part of culture and has become an option even when beer is stored in the refrigerator. Because of this unique beer drinking culture, even European guests who are used to drinking beer Purely cold and drink beer with ice while sitting on the streets of Hanoi," Veyond newspaper wrote.
Adding ice makes the beer lighter and more bitter when left for a long time, but it is a cool drink, suitable for summer in countries like Vietnam and Thailand. In Korea, beer is usually only chilled to preserve the flavor of the hops, while the carbonation process is not affected, losing the refreshing feeling.
According to Korean observations, not only beer but also coffee, juice and many other drinks in Vietnam are often served with ice.
