Cafe Ba Lù - 70 Years old Cafe - Part 1: The Roasting Process

This cafe is the family business and it been 2 generation (from father to daughter). The Father is the Chinese from Hai Nam, he went into Viet Nam and work here when he was young. So passionate and hard working, that why he was granted the coffee shop. When he passed away, The coffee shop belongs to his daughter - who about 50 years old.

This place located in district 5 (know as China town) - Ho Chi Minh City. It in the old market and look incredibly awesome from above.

Meet the daughter, who now the owner of the coffee shop. A generous woman, who love to answer any question that you ask.

Here is the process of roasting coffee. She do it publicly, because her place is small, so can't do it in house.

This is her assistant (member in the family), will do the hard work like choping the wood, lifting and spining the roaster.

She will sit next to him, and he will follow her lead.

Sometime there will have couple curious visitor walk by and ask some question about what they doing. And even stay there and watch the entire roasting process

When the time come, she will adding some French butter. She believe that French butter is crucial for the flavor, and the smell of the coffee bean

She said "When the smoke is pure white like this, meaning the coffee is ready". I barely understand that because it smoke all the time :v But you may get the idea.

The guy will pour the bean out on the carpet

She will put water to reduce the heat and spread the bean evenly

This is what it'll look like !

When it cool down ! She just collect it and store the bean in the big bucket.

They will keep doing that process until they finish all the bean. They will do it weekly and everytime roasting is about 3-4 kg of bean

The job may seem to be exhausted but this is what they been doing for 70 years. And they will keep doing that as long as they could. I would say that they are the only one is still roasting coffee bean like this in Ho Chi Minh City.

It not easy to inherit family traditional and it definitely not easy to do a same thing over and over again for 30-40 years. But some how they still manage to do it and still in love with it

"It not about the painting that make the art, it about the passion and effort of the artist put into the painting that make the art "

It not about the process of roasting the bean. It about the love and passion, effort they putting that make the art. And now, We can call this is "The art of roasting coffee bean "