Barista Magazine

APR-MAY 2017

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

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45 www.baristamagazine.com facing the Vietnamese coffee industry. Debt, drought, rainy-season fl ooding, and inconsistent quality are persistent diffi culties facing local Arabica producers, but baristas like Sabet seem to be making strides to educate everyone and bring these communities together. Just a 10-minute motorbike ride away, Thi and Kieu prepared pourovers and pulled shots at Duy Ho's The Married Beans, a café concept focused on quality initiatives in local Bourbon-variety pro- duction. The café is located just off the town square, and the modest Christmas tree, folk music, and Polaroid photos hanging from metal clips reinforced the idea that this is a brand-new Vietnamese coffee world. Social media, the aspiration to be part of a larger global spe- cialty-coffee culture, and a desire to introduce the rest of the world to high-quality Vietnamese Arabicas fuels The Married Beans. Kieu, wearing a New York Mets Tshirt and apron, shyly brought customers pourovers while I asked Thi about her calling in coffee. Although she is still studying at a local university, she views coffee as a signifi cant part of her life. It's an opportunity to practice English, engage with an international community, and gain a better under- standing of Vietnam's complex coffee worlds. Her pourover brings out the sweet acidity of Duy Ho's locally grown Yellow Bourbon, and it's the fi rst time I've experienced anything like it in Vietnam. There's something especially charismatic about the baristas at La Viet and The Married Beans. Perhaps their proximity to origin gives them a special appreciation of the challenges facing this niche industry. While La Viet and The Married Beans both have their own respec- tive sustainability initiatives, Fi-lan'thro-pe is a nonprofi t operation that puts local ethnic minorities and impoverished coffee communities at the center of its Arabica sustainability efforts. Founders Michael Gomez Wood and Cana Little have invested incredible amounts of time and effort into educating local coffee communities about Arabica quality improvement and the general politics of the coffee trade. Their Duy Ho (right) of The Married Beans works closely with Son (le ) to roast their various Bourbon off erings.

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