Will the Vietnamese want to start their day with a fresh cup of … Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Soy? That’s what Starbucks is hoping now that it’s opened a two-level café in Ho Chi Minh City. At the moment, sales are up, but there are concerns that the Vietnamese will stay away because Starbucks coffee is not the kind to which they are accustomed. As the Wall Street Journal noted (content restricted):
Local coffee entrepreneurs such as Dang Le Nguyen Vu seem confident that drinkers will likely stick with thick, oily Vietnamese coffee. The drink is available nearly anywhere, from Mr. Vu’s 1,000 or so Trung Nguyen brand stores to the glamorous cafés of Ho Chi Minh City.
Not only that, but “some farmers hunt down beans that have been eaten and digested by civet cats and are then collected from the animal’s dung.” Ever wonder who was the first person to give that a try? “Aficionados say ca phe chon, or weasel coffee, imparts a darker, smoother flavor [not nutty?], and its beans can sell for as much as $500 a kilo in places like London and New York.”
So make it a Civet Dolce Latte?
Photo courtesy of Ragesoss