Java - Vuong Farm
Impressions: blueberry, vanilla, orange, buckwheat honey
Roast degree: light (1.5/5)
Country: Vietnam
Province: Lam Dong. (Da Nghit hamlet, Lat commune, Lac Duong district)
Farmer: Hieu Vuong - 3 families in total
Altitude: 1400masl
Variety: Java
Process: Anaerobic natural, slow dried for 30 days
Import partner: 96B
We can't begin to explain how lucky and excited we are to share coffee from 96B on the menu. Since they are have their own roasting project and one of the few specialty coffee in Saigon, they do not export much coffee nor do they work with many people outside of Vietnam. When Thai, of one the co-founder, texted David to see if he was interested in bringing some for RH, he jumped at the opportunity. Our shared values made this a match made in heaven, both in terms of ethos and taste.
You can find 3 other lots from 96B on our menu: Robusta, Liberica, Catimor (hybrid).
96B is a Saigon-based roaster, cafe, coffee education centre, green bean producer & exporter. They focus on Liberica, Robusta & Arabica coffee grown and processed in Vietnam. Their country is mostly know worldwide for being the biggest commodity robusta producer, and they want to redefine the outdated narrative of Vietnamese coffee. To do so, they work closely with innovative farmers.
''Direct trade allows us to optimize our quality control, while compensating farmers fairly for their work, improving their livelihoods in a radical and immediate way.
Since 2016, almost all the coffees we have bought are priced by the farmers.''
Each lot of the exclusive coffee adhere to high social and quality standards:
- Mutually beneficial relationships with producers
- Respect for health and environment
- Red cherries: we only pick and sort ripe cherries
- Controlled drying: most of our coffees are slow-dried in greenhouses to improve taste - Defect picking: we optimize machine- and hand-picking to remove defect beans
We know the world is crazy about the gesha coffees, but we feel everyone is sleeping on java.
Not only are those seeds long and elegant like the gesha ones, the taste is very distinct and enjoyable (but more affordable than most gesha ;-) )
This lot is delicate and complex. We experienced subtle blueberries with and orange like acidity. Vanilla kept showing up in our notes, and David had to give one of his crazy specific attributes and made Sophie put buckwheat honey on the label. To his defense, David is a honey geek.
This will make for a delightful black filter coffee but can truly shine with any methods.
| Method | Dose | Ratio | Time |
| Espresso | 18 g | 2.2:1 | 30-35 sec |
| Espresso with milk | 18g | 2:1 | 32-35 sec |
| Americano | 18 g | 2.3:1 | 30-35 sec |
|
V60/Origami |
23 g | 17:1 | 3:30-4:00 min |
|
Chemex & Batch Brew |
40-60 g | 16:1 | 4:15-5:30 min |
|
French Press |
18-25 g | 16:1 | 3:45 min steep time |
Exporter: 96B
Price paid by us for the landed coffee at our roastery: 28.78CAD/kg
(Airfreight from Vietnam via UPS: +15CAD/kg)
Farmgate: 400 000 VND /kg
Export fees, financing, quality control, vacuum seal, transportation, defect picking:
93 000 VND
Important to note that the farmers working with 96B are price setters and not price takers. Very few farmers have control over their own pricing worldwide, notably because of buyer's greed and the broken C-Price system to name only these two causes.
It takes a willing buyer like Thai to let farmers dictate price, and something we wish to see normalize in specialty coffee across the board.