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On Saturdays, an empty parking lot comes to life as a bustling farmers market. Nestled among fresh produce, flaky pastries and flower vendors sits River Phin Coffee Roasters, a specialty Asian coffee booth with a stream of customers.
Head roaster and owner of River Phin Coffee Roasters, Vy Nguyen, has roots to Hà Nội, Vietnam. Nguyen felt there was a lack of Asian representation in the American coffee industry. In 2021, she decided to launch her company as a way to spotlight Vietnamese and Asian coffee beans.
“I felt like it (coffee) was missing the voice for specialty Asian coffee, so I wanted to bring my own craft of coffee to the community,” Nguyen said.
Every order starts with a warm “Hello, my friend,” from Nguyen, followed by an explanation of which espresso shots are being featured that week. The Espresso Bar is one part of the menu and highlights 4-5 different coffee beans from countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Additionally, certain beans have fruity flavors like lychee or banana that are naturally infused into the bean through bee pollination. Every two weeks, the Espresso Bar’s options rotate.
Once you have picked a specific espresso shot from the Espresso Bar, customers can choose to use the shot toward making an americano, cortado, cappuccino or latte ($5-$7). Customers can also indulge in seasonal drink options like the pandan latte ($8) crafted with volcanic espresso, fresh pandan extract and topped with a sharp green pandan leaf.
One highlight of the menu is the speciality Vietnamese iced coffee. All Vietnamese coffee orders are crafted by Nguyen’s mom, whom customers often refer to as Grandma Quy.
“I would say my mom is the heart of River Phin,” Nguyen said.
According to Nguyen, customers come every week just to try Grandma Quy’s Old Fashion Vietnamese iced coffee ($6). The drink is made from Vietnamese coffee brewed using a phin and whisked together with sweetened condensed milk.
A phin is a traditional metal filter used to brew coffee. Nguyen uses an industrial-size two-foot-tall phin to make the Vietnamese coffee. The phin rests on a huge pot and slowly filters the beans and water. In Vietnamese, this slow drip brewing method is known as từng giọt cà phê.
The phin is a test of patience. According to Nguyen, it takes five minutes for a single cup of coffee to drip out of a traditional phin. The result is a highly concentrated drink with stronger flavors than a regular roast.
“The culture of a phin is people going to a cafe (and) they sit, they enjoy the slow life, they’re in no rush,” Nguyen said.
The Cà Phê Salted Cream ($7) takes the Old Fashion one step further by adding a salted cream top dusted with pure cocoa powder from Lang Biang Mountain in Vietnam. Nguyen personally visited the K’ho ethnic minority in Lang Biang to source specific products for her business.
Nguyen’s grandfather was a tea craftsman from Nam Định, Vietnam. According to Nguyen, her grandfather’s love for traditional teas and craftsmanship has shaped her own appreciation for specialty coffee and high quality ingredients. She’s carried these values into her business by only buying from small farmers.
“I think of coffee as a journey,” Nguyen said. “From the farmers and producers to the millers, exporters, importers, roasters, baristas, and finally the customer.”
Purchasing from small farmers gives Nguyen the ability to trace her coffee and tweak her roasting process based on the bean’s origin.
“Every bean is a lot of sweat,” Nguyen said. “It is hard work, so it made me really appreciate every time I drink a cup of coffee that so many hands and so much sweat go into this one cup of coffee.”
Coffee quality ranges on a scale of 0-100. At River Phin Coffee Roasters, Nguyen sources specialty coffee, which is coffee graded 80 and above.
“When you pay for a price of coffee, depending on the coffee type and the grade, the price will be reflected upon that,” Nguyen said.
Every coffee bean sold is personally roasted by Nguyen in small batches. For limited-edition coffees, she roasts at a small facility in Foster City. However, larger productions are done at a separate roasting facility in Oakland.
“There’s a lot of craftsmanship at heart,” Nguyen said. “When I drink coffee, for me, it is art.”
At the U.S. Roasters Championship, Nguyen competed and spoke about her roasting process: a combination of using sight, sound and smell. Customers can taste her Sumatra Lychee Bloom coffee roast, which she showcased at Nationals.
Nguyen’s experience as a certified coffee grader has helped her choose quality beans and refine her roasting process. No coffee bean batch is roasted the same way, as the roasting process is tailored to reflect its unique character.
“Roasting is both a craft and a science,” Nguyen said. “Before each roast, I inspect every lot of green coffee and evaluate its density to help develop the ideal roast profile.”
Nguyen recommends her customers sample coffee from various locations that are processed differently. Even the method a coffee bean is dried can change the consistency and taste of the coffee.
“Depending on how the coffee was processed or how the seed was removed and dried, it would roast differently,” Nguyen said.
The River Phin Coffee Roasters booth can be found at the Foster City Farmers Market, hosted on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Looking ahead, Nguyen plans to grow her business by tabling at more events and opening a permanent store.
“We’re looking for a brick and mortar in our area,” Nguyen said. “We just haven’t found the right spot yet.”
River Phin Coffee Roasters, 1010 Metro Center Blvd., Foster City, Foster City Farmers Market. Instagram: @riverphincoffee. Open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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