When visiting Vietnam between October and December, expect some rain; nothing too severe, but it’s worth coming with a raincoat or an umbrella. At the time of my visit, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hoi An was raining lightly, though it seemed that no one was content spending their day indoors. Instead, tourists braved the light drizzle to explore old town on hotel-owned bikes or on foot whilst clad in purple or orange raincoats. If anything, it seemed the rain served as an excuse to cuddle up with a significant other while enjoying a warm drink.
The heart of old town was teeming with life; it may as well have been sunny. Tourists were walking from shop to shop, snapping pictures here and there, and enjoying a glass of wine from the sidelines. All those activities are mandatory while in Hoi An, but the rain called for a hot drink in a nice nook in my opinion. Luckily, there in the intersection of two of old town’s busiest streets was Hoi An Roastery, a cozy little shop packed with people seeking shelter from the rain.
Occupying one of the old turmeric-hued buildings characteristic to Hoi An, and painted in an unconventional, albeit refreshing hue of green inside, Hoi An Roastery was as warm as it was lively. The ground floor was alive with the sound of chatter and waiters flitting from one table to the other. The same could be said about the upper floor that was airy and just as charming as the first. The windows served as perches for people watching, a pastime that many of the shop’s customers took up.
With four locations in the quaint town, Hoi An Roastery has made quite a name for itself. Most of their customers are tourists who stay in town for a couple days before moving on to the next city. Serving up local coffee from the highlands of Dalat, Hoi An Roastery strives to serve customers the best Arabica or Robusta that Vietnam has to offer. Hoi An Roastery purchases green beans from farmers with fair prices to ensure sustainable growth, then roasts the beans to golden-brown perfection in their facility. If you wanted to take a piece of Hoi An Roastery home with you, do buy a bag of their coffee that is displayed throughout the shop.
Alongside their coffee, the shop also offered a selection of delicious homemade cakes. With our local Vietnamese coffee and hot chocolate, we tried their apple cake and ended up loving it so much, we had to try their chocolate cake as well. Warm and lightly spiced, the cakes were the perfect companions to a warm cup of coffee. The people sitting in the tables next to us seemed to agree.
The rain stopped after a while, and the streets were filled by even more awestruck tourists. Finishing up our drinks and cakes, we headed out to the lantern-strewn streets in search of our next adventure. In a town where the buildings and the streets tell stories, Hoi An Roastery and the great coffee its bringing to town is another chapter in this vivid book.
