Vietnam is famous for many types of speciality coffees, not found elsewhere. Salt coffee, egg coffee, coconut coffee and more are available in most Vietnamese cities. After months in Vietnam, trying every type of coffee we could find, we decided to learn Vietnamese coffee-making skills ourselves. Or rather, I sent my son. I only like black coffee, so it would be wasted on me. He had a great time, and here’s a post about his class, making coffee in Vietnam, specifically, in the beautiful UNESCO listed, Hoi An Ancient Town.
The location of our coffee-making class in Hoi An.
My son, D, an older teen, took all of the photos, and we paid for this class ourselves. We keep it real on this site. This post may contain affiliate links.
Vietnam is probably not a place where you’ll need to pack your travel coffee maker, with coffee being cheap and available in a variety to suit any taste. You’ll find lovely coffee shops all over Hoi An, plus chains. For real Vietnamese coffee, find the small independent places.
Vietnamese egg coffee. Egg coffee, normally associated with Hanoi, is easy to find in Hoi An today.
Classes like these are a great rainy day “thing to do” in Hoi An. We were visiting in January & February, the winter wet season, there was a lot of rain!
I can’t call this a “thing to do with kids”, my kids never drank coffee, but if you’re travelling with an older teen, go for it! We did take cooking classes in Hoi An with younger kids, and we took Vietnamese language classes and art classes, both were free. For more on all of this, see our post on “Things to do in Hoi An with Kids“.
What Types of Vietnamese Coffee Did They Learn To Make in This Class?
Take home the secret recipes for the most popular types of coffee in Hoi An, and Vietnam. We’re not giving their secrets away, you need to take the class yourself!
The types of coffee that he learned to make in this class were
Vietnamese coffee using a phin, the typical Vietnamese coffee filter.
Ca Phe Sua, condensed milk coffee
Ha Noi egg coffee
Hue salt coffee
Hoi An coconut coffee
He tried all of these types of coffee already, and we were used to making black coffee with a phin at home when we lived in Hoi An. These single-cup coffee filters are super convenient and on our trip to Vietnam in January 2026, I’m hoping to find a couple to buy. Get stainless steel, not aluminium, obviously.
The coffee workshop resembled a chemistry lab. I sent him by himself so that he could spend some time with other young backpackers, and he did, it was a social thing to do.
Our Favourite Coffee Shops in Hoi An
I don’t know if Espresso Station is officially the “best” coffee shop in Hoi An, but it was our favourite for it’s cute courtyard, away from the street, and incredible menu.
The Espresso Station in Hoi An is our favourite. It’s tucked away up a side street, we marked it on the map here. You won’t believe the varieties of coffee they have on the menu. We’re also very fond of Mia Coffee (here), a bigger place for more standard coffee and their own Arabica beans. This is where we always bought our ground coffee when we were living in Hoi An.
So if you’re heading to Hoi An, or indeed anywhere in Vietnam, and have a coffee loving member of the family, particularly an older teen, buy them a coffee making class. It’s a fun thing to do, particularly on a wet day.
Alyson is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist in London hospitals, she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011, becoming a full-time blogger, travel writer and a published author.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today the family travels extensively to update this site and continue the mission to visit every country, while running a self-sufficient homestead. (https://tropicalfoodgarden.com)
