Stocked up! Place your order now...

Hopefully we can now put the dark days of the last couple of years behind us and I won't have to quarantine when I next go back to Vietnam. It was only 8 days this time! 8 days I hear you say.....well the previous time I had to do 15!

So I now have my stock replenished. Some of you have already been quick to order some beans or leaves and I hope moving forward there won't be anymore supply issues.

Thank you to all my loyal customers for being patient and ordering once again. It means a lot to have so many repeat customers and to share a few messages with you each time you order.

Arabica

I have to agree with my barista who roasted the beans. This crop is better than the last. This is no surprise as the cooperative of farmers who produce the beans use more sustainable methods of farming year on year alongside more care and attention to the process once the cherry leaves the tree. So when the bean is dried out and ready to be roasted it is bursting with more flavour. But that all counts for nothing unless the roast is done correct. My barista expertly roasts it here in the UK to give you a delicious arabica which now stands up well against the more well known coffee producing countries. Vietnam wasn't known for its specialty coffee but for its......

Robusta

The quintessential coffee bean from Vietnam. Nearly every street corner will sell Caphe Sua. This is usually the lesser and cheaper Robusta bean. Given its high caffeine content and bitterness condensed milk (sua) is added to make the drink more palatable.

But as with the arabica bean production methods for robusta have also improved. Therefore the taste is much smoother and I often drink it black.

Some of you have been ordering robusta for the past few years. I have now been able to source it from my friend Thuy.

She used to work with the cooperative of farmers that produced the arabica bean. When her parents decided to sell the coffee farm she decided to quit her job and become a farmer as she didn't want to see the farm where she grew up go.

So a few years later she is now producing a remarkable robusta bean. Very smooth to drink. She has adopted sustainable farming methods and unlike many robusta farmers who just want a quick buck she only picks the ripe cherry and sorts through any spoilt ones to make sure that the liquid you drink comes from the best bean possible.

Enough about the beans, here is a word about the leaves......

My ever popular Oolong and Pandan Tea is back in stock. If you have never tried these they are very tasty. I have two customers who cant praise the Oolong enough. I have been lucky enough to go where the Oolong is grown and if you are a plant there in a lush valley you'd be pretty happy about life. So once it's gone through the withering process and dried out the end result is delicious.