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Coffee is not tomato, eggplant, eggplant or eggplant, although it is also called coffee. Simply put, coffee is a “new noun” recorded in Vietnamese from the French word “cafe”. Looking back to its origin, the name coffee is also related to the place name Kaffa in Ethiopia, the birthplace of the coffee bean.
It doesn’t matter, Vietnamese is a language that is ever-changing and prefers phonetic notation, so coffee naturally became a Vietnamese etymology, similar to the words soap, cyclo... It has even been domesticated to the point of becoming an idiomatic phrase “coffee, eggplant”. Very “natural like a Hanoian”.
Hanoians have known how to drink coffee for a long time, but it was not until 1884 that the first coffee shop appeared in Hanoi, named “Cafe de Beira” on Tho Kham Street (now Hang Khay). That was the earliest coffee shop to appear in this land, after that came the “four coffee shops Nhan - Nhi - Di - Giang” in the 1940s or later, Lam Coffee.
The iconic name “Cafe de Beira” has created a style of naming coffee shops that always have the word Cafe before another Vietnamese name. Not only is the name of the coffee shop or the name of the coffee shop deeply influenced, but the way Hanoians make coffee also has a strong French coffee flavor.
Coffee is always brewed using a metal filter. The word “phin” is also derived from the French word “filtre” – to filter. The phin consists of a mill containing coffee powder, the bottom of the mill is perforated with small holes, the mill is placed tightly in a rim to cover the mouth of the cup, along with a press plate and a lid.
When brewing, put finely ground coffee into the mortar, then pour boiling water to expand the coffee and then place the press plate to create pressure. Under the influence of gravity, the boiling water cooks the coffee, extracting all the flavor, then dripping drop by drop into the cup. This brewing method is called filter coffee or simply filter coffee.
Describing the filter brewing method sounds simple, but to make a cup of delicious, standard coffee is a strict process, turning the brewing technique into a "career that requires a lot of effort" of Hanoians.
From choosing the fineness of the coffee to suit the filter hole, to the temperature of the boiling water, how to put the coffee into the grinder, tapping the grinder so that the coffee is compressed enough to be porous, not too tight, not too loose, brewing time, speed of dripping... all speak to the technical level of the coffee maker.
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Looking at the way Hanoi coffee addicts brew a cup of coffee, it is both gentle and carefree but also extremely focused. Gradually, those things become the essence of coffee, just need to see the nose slightly raised to measure the heat through the aroma, the way the spoon stirs the pot, the graceful way of lighting a cigarette to enjoy the coffee to understand the quality of the connoisseur.
The way Hanoians enjoy coffee is not only calculated from the moment they lift the cup of coffee to savor the aroma and then take small sips to appreciate the taste. It must be from the moment they prepare themselves for a coffee session, experiencing the emotions of coffee from its powder form, to the process of transformation and distillation.
Their eyes wandered around the world but never took their eyes off the coffee filter. It was rare to see them talking while brewing. Only when they had finished their work would they sit back and relax, watching the tears fall, talking about random things, waiting for the moment to enjoy the results.
Drop by drop, slowly falling through the filter, making the coffee filter a tangible block of time. That entity does not lie in the way of making coffee by putting it in a sock and then keeping it in a thermos, nor in the way of putting the coffee in to boil, let it settle and then pour it into a cup quickly and conveniently.
Those coffees are too haphazard and too rough, losing the taste of time permeating through each fine coffee grain, lacking the leisurely, leisurely style of Hanoians enjoying life. Hanoi is not in a hurry, and it cannot be “one puff of tobacco, one puff of Chinese tea” in a crude way.
Not only creating a way of behaving when enjoying coffee, Hanoians are also creative in making coffee. The egg coffee cup of Giang coffee is a famous creation, creating a completely new type of coffee, even though it was originally just an invention to replace the cream ingredient of Cappuccino coffee.
Cafe Giang’s owner (Mr. Nguyen Van Giang) created egg coffee in 1946, when he was working as a bartender at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi. Although more than 7 decades have passed, the recipe for egg coffee has remained virtually unchanged.
The coffee, after being filtered and brewed hot, is poured into the golden, fluffy egg cream, floating like a cloud. The brown liquid floats through the cloud and then sinks below the rich, creamy cloud. In this way, the cream is allowed to pass through and cover the hot coffee, not scooped over like in the cappuccino, so the aroma and taste of the two ingredients blend more closely together.
Then, the cup of egg coffee is placed in a bowl filled with hot water to keep this delicate drink warm, regardless of whether it is a hot or cold day. And then, it becomes a typical image of Cafe Giang, of the globally famous egg coffee, imprinted in the memory of those who enjoy it.
Mr. Nguyen Tri Hoa - Mr. Giang's son - said that the birth of egg coffee was motivated by aspiration and creativity in the situation of "necessity is the mother of invention". Those were the years when Hanoi prepared for the "death for the Fatherland" and then 9 years later, on October 10, 1954, proudly "Marching to Hanoi".
During that time, the lack of sugar, milk, and cream turned an egg yolk into a special cream for a cup of coffee. It was the result of a Hanoi barista's contemplation, creating a coffee for Hanoians, creating a very unique mark of Hanoi coffee culture.
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Hanoians love to drink coffee at cafes. Whether sitting at a set of dull wooden tables and chairs in a small corner of the cafe or sitting on the floor on the porch overlooking the street, drinking coffee is still a moment for them to be with themselves and pamper themselves.
They have a familiar cafe or a few familiar cafes, sitting at one cafe from the time they have green mustaches until their hair turns white. But it has to be that cafe, with the familiar view, with the familiar taste of a cup of coffee brewed by an old friend.
They are loyal to Cafe Nhi on Hang Ca Street or follow Cafe Giang from 90 Cau Go to 7 Hang Gai Street and then 39 Nguyen Huu Huan Street. They don’t care who makes the coffee, Mr. Giang, Mr. H or his granddaughter Giang, who is now the third-generation owner of Cafe Giang.
The old stools and the tea tables with thousands and thousands of circular imprints are the bottoms of coffee cups, creating layers of geometry. Time has passed for a century, and the coffee shops in Hanoi are also 70 - 80 years old, creating the brand "co lai hy".
However, early morning or late afternoon, hot summer days or cold winter days, the smoke from cups of coffee still rises to permeate Hanoi, and the drops of coffee still fall, bringing a luxurious leisure. Hanoians still enjoy coffee to pamper themselves, no matter how busy life is, here, everything still flows slowly like "filter coffee".
