Da Lat Lotus Honey (Vietnam)

Artwork Credit: Sam Landsberg

We recommend this coffee served as an opulent espresso beverage, drip coffee or single cup pour-over.

As the world’s largest producer of robusta, Vietnam is generally (and unfairly) not considered an origin of high-quality coffee. This, however, is hardly the case. We have been partnering with Mercon Specialty for about three years now to bring you these coffees. Cau Dat is an area outside of Da Lat, a resort town in the mountains of southeast Vietnam, in the Lam Dong Province. High-quality, specialty coffee is farmed - throughout this beautiful region - by mostly smallholder farmers on less than a few hectares of land. This Lotus coffee from Mercon is produced exclusively through their LIFT program consisting of about 100 partners, many of whom are women owned and operated. Mercon also provides complimentary techincal assistance to all their LIFT partners across the coffee value chain.

This coffee was grown at an altitude of about 1,500 meters in volcanic soils. The altitude in this mountainous region keeps temperatures low at night which helps to extend the growing season, increasing sweetness and complexity in the coffee. After harvest, the cherries are pulped, then dried with some of the mucilage still in tact. This “honey” process yields a fruit-driven, sweet and complex coffee with balance and body.