The fascinating and unexpected history behind Vietnamese coffee, a cultural icon that was saved by an unlikely hero: Communist East Germany. We dive deep into this untold story that brought together two nations and transformed the coffee industry forever.
We go back in time as we explore the roots of Vietnamese coffee during French colonial rule, the devastating impact of the Vietnam War, and the surprising role East Germany played in revitalizing Vietnam’s coffee industry. You’ll learn how a shared love for coffee and political alliances led to one of the most ambitious foreign collaborations in history.
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49 Comments
Who‘s pumped for some food history? It‘s been a while 🥳🤩
Not just Germany, but specifically EASTERN Germany. My parents actually told me that despite not earning much in Eastern Germany, since rent and food was cheap, and there was often nothing attractive available to spend their remaining money on. The flipside of capitalism. So they actually indulged in coffee, although it was roughly 10 times more expensive in ratio to the income than today.
Also for a time you could study coffee production at university in Eastern Germany on a high level.
Andong Wonderful. As a Teutonophile, foodie, and history nut this little gem escaped my notice before. It's one of those tiny details that gets lost in the shuffle. It was also fun seeing the old East German coffee packets. I've noticed that ex-colonies in the warmer parts of the world all use canned milk. Many famous drinks (the first I learned of was Thai Tea) use canned milk as an ingredient Tbank you for this. 🤓 all the best, Jim Oaxaca Mexico
"infrastructure destroyed" yes and it was the USA's military strategy. They knew they were losing and wanted to make the nation as poor as possible to make it impossible to "stop communism", even if that meant creating untold suffering for millions
Wait wait wait, does Vietnam still owe us tons of coffee then? 🇩🇪 ☕️ 🇻🇳 🤪
Good Old DDR Engineering.I do love my east German camera tri-pod!
Yeah sure everything was looking great during the french colonialist occupation of Vietnam. This is not history, this is just propaganda.
Germoney come to the rescue again
"Socialism has never worked" Of course not, because capitalism hunts it down and murders it every time. Just look at Cuba after decades of sanctions, still churning out doctors and keeping 80 years old cars running. Yep, never works 🥱
Your studio and the whole video asthetic is so relaxing and vibes. keep up the great work! from the netherlands.
I thought you were gonna make coffee and drink some…
Now, that story was ACE!!! 😂😂😂
To say Germany "created" vietnamese coffee is not correct! I'd say this is an attempt to take credit. The fact is coffee was already grown and consumed since early 20th century. Of course coffee was introduced by french. Coffee in VN has NEVER known to be "created" by germany. That is the fact.
never knew about this, super interesting! especially as a weird coffee person.
what happened to the GDR contracts the Vietnamese had signed? Did the reunified FRG agree to cancel them, how did Vietnam escape paying for its contractual obligations?
These history videos are the reason I subbed. Keep it up ma dude.👍
So the Meika "Coffee" is the same as what American Civil War soldiers drank as "Coffee"… Fascinating connection/history.
5:14 Those east germany packs looks great.
Sir saw this video now and liked it very much a big thanks to you for making a video on Vietnamese coffee which I am a big fan of . but I have a small request kindly let me know which is the best phin where available and what price please post your comment thanks god bless you and your family
I love how andong make this food history video.. keep it up.. loving your contents..✨
I really enjoy food history. Thank you. I've never thought or heard about this.
😊 as Vietnamese from highland where coffee is cultivated, I didnt know about this history part, thank you Andong ❤❤❤
☕
Uncle Ho won big time again!
Love this!
Wow! What a great education.
I know how much work these videos are, but you have a talent to tell this very interesting stories in a funny manner and this brings so muuuuch value to YouTube. Please keep up with this! Kellogg’s was so far my favourite and still use this in smalltalk conversations 😅
Robustica is making a comeback 😉
Not only that, Vietnam was also the biggest source for guest workers in the GDR. And condensed milk in coffee is also popular.
😊
kannst du anfangen quellen anzugeben?
My friend, that’s some interesting facts about our coffee industry that most people will never know. Thank you for making a video about our country Vietnam. Can you make a video about Pho next? The origin of pho would be very interesting for you.
Thank you, that was a really good content and very interesting.
I had the pleasure of tasting amazing arabica coffee in Dal Lat. So delicious…
The classic vietnamese coffee is mostly 100% robusta and despite being super strong it's pretty boring taste wise. Didn't get used to the sweetened condensed milk though…
Shitty white-washed history. Downvoted.
He specifically skirted over the French part of coffee introduction into Vietnam. He said that coffee were grown by small time farmers for themselves and to make extra cash, but the reality is that all the coffee plantation at the time were owned by French colonists and produced for the European market. Vietnamese traditionally drank tea, which was why coffee never caught on until the early 2000s' urbanization among college kids and office workers. The French colonists were the plantation owners who were forced to hand over the land and kicked out in 1954, not 1945. During the Vietnam-American war, the coffee plantations never took off again because the region that grew coffee in Vietnam, the central highland, was part of the Ho Chi Minh trail and was being constantly bombed by the US during the war. After 1975, there were attempts to resurrect the coffee farming, just in the hands of coop instead of French colonists, but the production could not be shipped to the market in Europe and NA because Vietnam was under US sanction until 1995. In short, he purposely moved the timeline around and skirted over the French's role specifically to downplay the colonial ownership of the coffee plantations back before 1954 and to blame the current government for "taking the plantations away from those poor plantation owners", who were, in fact, French and quite well-known for their abuse of Vietnamese workers at the time.
Good summary (comment from a German)
I always thought Vietnamese coffee industry was tied to France, but I guess Germany is the one to take credit
The coffee filter was invented in east Germany… Saxony has a forgotten coffee culture as long & rich as Vienna, Italy, France & so on.
i love learning the nuance to these types of topics. Important to know that most of this is fueled by captialism, globalism, and colonialism. they are happy byproducts that we can drink this in the west, but the reasons sometimes are not simply "shared" knowledge
I drink coffee with Vietnamese friends and had no idea that the DDR was responsible for their modern coffee culture.
What an interesting video! I loved the Vietnamese iced coffee. I had no idea about it‘s connection to German history. Thanks for this great content.
Great video! Also, I noticed the word "Melange" was written on the RONDO pack… "The Spice Must Flow.."
Heya Andong! (east) German viewer here! I was expecting something else from this video. As most of the "Chinese" restaurants where I live are managed by people with Vietnamese origin, I wondered if you could shine a light on why so many Vietnamese came to the GDR.
Nevertheless, very interesting stuff!^^ Me likey!^^ Thank you!
fun fact, i know someone who smuggled golden wedding rings into the ddr in a coffee package. i never asked why in a coffee bag but now it makes sense, it was common thing to bring as a gift, noone asked questions. i dont remember why it was important that they dont find the rings at the border
Thanks for this great sip of history
Don't f with people's coffee.. Got it.
GDR history is a criminally underrated topic.
The perfect end for this video would have been you making some vietnamese coffee 🙁
it is quite interesting how negative the creator is painting a picture of the gdr and communist vietnam.
i mean, why would you blame a socialist country for not being able to buy lots and lots of coffee, when there is worldwide demand during a shortage and the strongest bullies (aka "richest" countries which are of course the capitalist ones) just buy up the stock? how is that the fault of a country actually ran by its people and being mindful of its resources?
capitalism is just institutionalized bullying and elbowing around, there is no elegance, no sense of accomplishment to it. just exploitation and trying to keep the upper hand over everyone else.