Born in Vietnam and now dwelling in Germany, Huong Quach—often referred to as Lucy—stocks her go from East to West, and her love for all issues canephora.
BY ISABELLE MANI
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Pictures courtesy of Huong Quach
Huong ”Lucy” Quach is a Vietnamese espresso professional with over a decade of revel in.
Even if part of her occupation spread out in Vietnam, Lucy additionally embraced the expat barista pace for a number of years: first in Taiwan—the place she gained the nationwide Latte Art Championship—after Amsterdam, Netherlands, ahead of settling in Munich, Germany, in 2022, the place she’s recently based totally.
2024 marked a turning level for Lucy. But even so profitable the German Cup Tasters Championship, her viewpoint on Vietnamese espresso shifted dramatically nearest returning house for the primary era in 5 years.
“When I started in specialty-coffee, my mindset was all about arabica. But going back to visit, I rediscovered robusta—and I was blown away. I couldn’t even recognize it as robusta; it tasted so different from what I remembered five or six years ago. That experience had a profound effect on me. I ended up extending my trip to visit farms and see the quality work happening firsthand.”
Once we first met in Berlin in October 2024, on the 3rd version of Canephorum, a two-day tournament devoted to the alternate of information round Coffea canephora, Lucy informed me the revel in “deeply changed” her connection to her roots and id. Again after, she additionally discussed that she was once getting ready to whisk a step again from her paintings as a expert and barista, embarking on a self-funded hiatus to dive into Vietnam’s robusta harvest season foundation in January, the place she spent a few months.
We stuck up once more to discuss all issues robusta: her evolving wisdom, her position as an unofficial ambassador for Vietnam’s fine quality canephora in Germany, and the way this unused bankruptcy is inspiring each her occupation and the espresso folk round her. Lucy additionally simply opened her personal café in Munich, Humpback Whale Specialty Coffee, in April—a dream she’s had for over a decade. She additionally runs Simply Mì: a Vietnamese baguette store serving conventional bánh mì and Vietnamese espresso.
Robusta in Vietnam
In Vietnam, Coffea arabica was once offered in 1857 through French missionaries, however robusta started to realize actual field within the early twentieth century. Round 1906, colonial government initiated extra systematic planting within the Central Highlands, supported through experimental stations and adaptation research.
Vietnam re-entered the worldwide espresso marketplace nearest many years of stagnation brought about through struggle and financial isolation. Within the past due Eighties, the Doi Moi reforms sparked speedy transformation, and through the era america’ business embargo was once lifted in 1994, the rustic was once all set to change into an international agricultural drive—anchored through robusta.
In contrast to in alternative generating international locations, robusta in Vietnam was once by no means confused through stigma. From the beginning, it was once embraced as a sensible, strategic abbreviation: resilient, high-yielding, and well-suited to the rustic’s ground. Extra than simply an agricultural product, it became a tool of recovery and identity-building in a nation rebuilding itself.
As of late, Vietnam produces over 40% of the arena’s robusta, at once supporting the livelihoods of over 2.5 million folk, with maximum of this have an effect on concentrated in rural boxes of the Central Highlands, particularly within the Dak Lak, Gia Lai, and Lam Dong provinces.
Lately, the rustic has viewable a peace however tough shift towards feature and innovation, pushed through a unused time of manufacturers, educators, and pros like Lucy, who’re serving to reshape how Vietnamese robusta is known and valued—each at house and in another country.
“Once people stop expecting it to taste like arabica, they’ll start appreciating it for what it is. We need more cupping tables, workshops, and events that bring baristas closer to canephora,” says Lucy.
Within the Q&A underneath, she displays on what’s modified—and what’s after.
Isabelle Mani: In terms of robusta, what adjustments have you ever viewable on farms in Vietnam and amongst Vietnamese espresso manufacturers?
Lucy: I noticed that farmers are actually making an investment in wisdom. Despite the fact that Vietnam isn’t a lavish nation, manufacturers are the use of what they earn to put money into themselves and learn to develop higher espresso. I discovered that tremendous. There are countless of Component Graders in Vietnam now, and due to establishments like HQJ Coffee School, they’re converting their belief of what just right espresso will also be. This funding in training is to better feature robusta.
How do you’re feeling about your position, having one footing within the Western forte scene and the alternative to your heritage—Vietnam, the arena’s greatest robusta manufacturer?
I believe extremely satisfied when folk come to me with questions on espresso—particularly (questions on) robusta from Vietnam. It makes me proud once they ask about foundation journeys and need to be told extra about our espresso scene. Since profitable the Cup Tasters, I believe like I will be an envoy for Vietnamese espresso. I’m happy with my roots, and I need to advertise our espresso and inspire everybody again house. I am getting emotional about it as it method such a lot to me.
Do you’re feeling a way of accountability to constitute Vietnamese espresso as you develop within the world espresso folk?
Sure, certainly. I believe deeply hooked up to my tradition, my heritage, and my nation’s espresso. Being concerned within the world espresso business, I believe a accountability to be told extra, proportion extra, and advertise Vietnamese espresso. It’s no longer only a activity or a zeal—it’s a part of my id.
How do you interact with alternative pros within the forte business who additionally recommend for canephora?
I like organizing cupping classes and workshops that spotlight canephora possible. It’s a stunning solution to foster collaboration and form a folk of canephora advocates inside of specialty-coffee. For instance, right through my fresh go back and forth house, I accrued fine quality robusta from other farms and areas and hosted a Vietnamese robusta cupping for the espresso folk in Munich.
As a part of this go, I additionally hope to virtue canephora in competitions to show off its possible to a broader and extra skilled target audience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Isabelle Mani (she/her) is a scribbler, journalist, and communicator that specialize in the world espresso business. Since 2017, she has serious about writing articles and lines for diverse world espresso information retailers. Isabelle has traveled to coffee-producing international locations equivalent to Colombia, Kenya, Rwanda, China, and Brazil to review and analysis espresso. She holds coaching certifications from the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the Coffee Quality Institute (Arabica Q Grading).
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