We’ve been trying to ween ourselves off the Vinacafe Vietnamese Instant Coffee here at SBM, but the other day we were at the Korean market and spotted some hazelnut instant coffee packs and thought we would give it a whirl. The difference between the brews is startling. The Korean mix is a pleasant, milky beverage, akin to Postum or Ovaltine. But it is weak–we have to put TWO packets into a large cup to get any kind of flavor momentum. And it does not have the visceral gut punch of caffeine excitement the Vietnamese stuff packs.

We’ve tried Japanses all-in-one instant coffee packs, as well, and they are not as strong either. Does this mirror local drinking patterns? We’ve had lots of Japanese coffee sodas and canned coffees but none of them packs what we’d call “that Code Red Punch.” Vietnam is known for its good quality robustica exports, so it may just be a matter of the local beans being higher quality.

Or else the Vietnamese are just excitement junkies.

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