Cafe Sua is made with a special stainless steel brewing container with tiny holes in the bottom that is placed over the top of a glass and then packed with very finely ground coffee, which is sometimes supplemented with chicory. Boiling water is then poured into the container to drip very slowly through the grounds into a 1/2 inch-or-so layer of sweetened condensed milk in the bottom of the glass. The coffee is generally stirred completely after it is finished brewing, and in hotter weather it is typically served iced and called Cafe Sua Da (Cà phê sữa đá).

As most of you know, or could at least infer by the country’s location, tea is also important in Vietnam. Typical teas range from the distinctive pungency of lotus-scented green tea to Tra Atiso, an infusion of artichoke leaves and petals. Most of the teas and non-tea infusions from Vietnam have a certain overall flavor profile, sort of green and sometimes bitter.

Interestingly, the traditional way that Cafe Sua is served in a Vietnamese-style cafe is alongside a cup or glass of tea. The tea is provided as a complimentary accompaniment to the coffee, and is continually refilled for as long as the patron is in the place, or until the coffee is done, which sometimes means the same thing. The experience of the two drinks together is quite pleasant. The tea has a sort of calming effect on the coffee, which is very strongly flavored, and strongly caffeinated. The tea also prevents the drying thirst that sometimes results from drinking strong coffee.

From what I’ve been able to determine through reading and through personal experience – not in Vietnam, but in what, from all appearances seems to be a transplanted typical Vietnamese style cafe in White Center, Washington, a tad south of Seattle – the tea served with the coffee is Vietnamese green tea. The last time I experienced this I paid particular attention to the tea. This was during the summer, so both the coffee and the tea were served iced. There were a couple of tea pitchers that were used to continually top up the customer’s glasses. The pitchers were kept full by adding concentrated tea from a metal pot and then adding water from a large cistern. Ice was added every so often also. The tea was lotus-scented green tea, and was made somewhat weakly.

The establishment I went to is one that I do not think non-Vietnamese speakers venture into very often. All of the other patrons were quite at home, smoking, playing video games and watching sports or the Vietnamese music television show on the widescreen LCD near the back as they sipped on their sweet, syrupy coffee and lightly refreshing tea. The place is quite dark, and quite unassuming from the outside. Stepping into it, I sensed that it was one of those rarely encountered reproductions of a slice of distant home culture. Research on Vietnamese cafe culture later confirmed this. Naturally, while out of my element in a place where little English is spoken, I was careful to be respectful and not act like a tourist. As a result, my photographic documentation was covert, although I would have loved to get a couple shots of the great neon above the bar and the way the slick stone bar glistened below it.

Read more about Cafe Sua Da and more about Vietnamese Cafe culture.

Greek Mountain Shepherd’s Tea (tsai tou vounou) is the leaves and bud of the Sideritis syriaca L. plant. It is a pleasant, meadowy flavored brew, purported to have en enormous range as a medicinal tonic, including prevention of osteoporosis and treatment of respiratory ailments. More information about Greek Mountain Tea can be read here and here.

The osmanthus, lingchi, honey beverage pictured is a Chinese product. Not to be confused with true teas supplemented with osmanthus flowers, this contains only osmanthus flowers, lingchi mushrooms (ganoderma lucidum, also known as reishi mushrooms) and honey. Reishi mushroom has a long and noble history in Chinese medicine as a treatment for a large number of general and specific ailments. Be careful never to substitute “lingchi” with “ling-chi,” or the health benefits of reishi mushrooms will be replaced by the “Death by a Thousand Cuts.”

French verveine, comprised of the leaves of the lemon verbena plant (verbena officinalis), yields one of the few tisanes commonly found in Europe. It is lemony and refreshing, but I don’t find it terribly inspiring. It’s a good alternative to tea if one is seeking something without caffeine. More information and a source for purchasing it can be found here, on The Tao of Tea’s site.

Of my examples, Vietnamese artichoke tea (tra atiso) is probably the most unusual. The first time I ever had it was in a Vietnamese restaurant where it was prepared with fresh artichokes, but the dried form is fairly easy to find. If you can locate a Southeast Asian grocery you can find this tea. Since it is made from the flower, the same part of the artichoke plant that we eat in other forms, it tastes pretty similar to what you would imagine. Its myriad health benefits, primarily targeting the liver and blood, are listed here.

From the source cited above, further evidence that artichokes are the very best food on the entire planet, a position I have held for quite some time:

Cynarin is considered one of artichoke’s main biologically active chemicals. It occurs in the highest concentration in the leaves of the plant. In the 1970s, European scientists first documented cynarin’s ability to lower cholesterol in humans. Its choleretic (bile stimulating) action has been well documented and has led to the popular use of artichoke extract in Europe for treating mild dyspepsia and indigestion – particularly following a meal high in fat.

The photograph in my last article is of a pot of artichoke tea brewing.

Tea has been growing in northern Vietnam for over 2,000 years. The hilly terrain and ideal tea-growing climate are home to some of the oldest varietals in existence. Teas made from these plants have a character all their own. They are as distinctive and elegant as Vietnamese culture itself.

Hand Scented: This is a traditional, hand-crafted Lotus tea. The highest grade green tea is scented directly from the fragrant stamens of fresh lotus blossoms. An ancient family tradition, this Lotus Ancien is scented in very small batches with utmost care by skilled artisan tea-makers.

Flavor Profile: A delicate green tea with a clear, crisp flavor is paired with the heady, aromatic fragrance of Lotus, reminiscent of anise and vanilla.

- from Tao of Tea‘s description.

For me the scent of lotus tea brings forth images of arrowanas swimming languidly through the murky and algae-infested waters of aquariums in cheap Pho restaurants. This is not a bad thing, necessarily, but it’s not quite my cup of tea. The tea has the typical fresh aridity of most green teas, but the lotus-scenting provides an additional acrid strangeness that I did not particularly enjoy. I did not strongly dislike it, but it would not be a tea I would chose to drink regularly. The Vietnamese preferences in tea seem to lean more towards bitter and bright than the darker flavors I usually prefer. A twisted needle oolong I tried that was also Vietnamese had that same overall tone. People who favor green teas might find this tea wonderful. It is certainly worth a try, as it is very distinctive.

After reading more information about traditional methods of preparation I suspect that I may benefit from experimenting with different ways of infusing and serving this tea. I really like the idea of a lotus infused tea so it would be worth some testing to find out if the brews I prepared were not typical of what this tea ought to yield.

Preparing the lotus tea to enjoy its fine qualities is an art. Truong Xuan, an artisan in tea making, describes the customary method he uses when preparing this superior refreshment. A bronze teapot is heated up in the fireplace and because they hold heat for a long time, glazed terracotta teacups are prepared. Truong Xuan prefers to use cups that are either white or pink inside to highlight the amber colour of the tea. Before combining the water and tea, both the teapot and cups are drenched with hot water followed by placing the teapot in a large bowl. After merging hot water with the tea he allows the mixture to steep for five minute before serving the tea in the terracotta cups.

- excerpted from this good article on Vietnamese lotus tea, on Vietnam Pictorial. (Note: the article is fairly far down on the page.)

I highly recommend taking a look through Tao of Tea‘s gallery of photographs of lotus tea production in Vietnam, even if you have little interest in the tea itself. The photographs of workers surrounded by the bright pink blossoms are really wonderful.