Some paths don't begin with grand ambitions, but start with a very small question: what exactly is a cup of coffee? Is it just a drink to keep us awake, a familiar agricultural product, or a story distilled from the land, from the people, and from how they treat each other throughout the process of making it?
That question has followed Huong – the founder – for many years. 48 – Daklao Café & Roastery – In Dak Mil, where coffee is found everywhere, its value is not always readily apparent.
Returning – not to start over, but to gain a deeper understanding.
Dak Mil isn't the place that comes to mind when talking about specialty coffee. It's a small town with a population of less than 20,000, where almost every household grows coffee. But precisely because of that, the coffee here has become something "too familiar." So familiar that... no one asks if it could be any better.
Huong had worked in the coffee industry for many years before returning to her hometown in 2018. She wasn't an "outsider" entering the industry. She had roasted, brewed, competed, and experienced many aspects of coffee – from technique to sensory perception.
But the deeper she went, the more she realized something rather sad:
Robusta – the coffee variety that accounts for the majority of Vietnam's production – is almost absent from professional markets. Coffee beans from its own homeland… are left out of the game.
It's not a matter of the plant variety. It's a matter of the method. And perhaps, it's also a matter of perspective.
A café tucked away in an alley – and a quiet option.
48 Daklao is not located on a main street. It's not in a busy area. It doesn't have the advantage of being easily accessible by passersby.
The cafe is located deep in an alley, a few kilometers from the town center – a place where evenings are usually so quiet that you can only hear the wind.
But strangely, people still come. Not because of the big sign. Not because of the advertising. But because of something harder to name:
story.
“"Huong doesn't just sell coffee; she sells the stories of the coffee growers."”
From one perspective, this saying sounds familiar. But when placed in the context of Dak Mil – where coffee is "a given" – it becomes very different.
Here, the story isn't about telling a good story. It's about answering the question: Where did this cup of coffee come from?
Coffee beans – not just raw materials, but the result of an ecosystem.
One of the things Huong does differently isn't at the cafe. It's at the garden. Instead of buying coffee as a raw material, she seeks out farmers willing to change their farming methods. Not to "follow standards," but to understand her own garden and develop more sustainably. This isn't a new model globally. But in the context of the Central Highlands – where coffee cultivation has long focused on quantity – it represents a significant shift.
More importantly, it changed the way farmers viewed their own gardens.
It's no longer a place to "grow trees to sell".
It is an ecosystem that needs to be cared for.
Making good coffee – not a slogan, but a series of difficult decisions.
If there's one word that could summarize how Huong makes coffee, it would probably be: “"difficult"”. Difficulty arises from even the smallest things.
At first glance, it might seem like a simple technical issue, but for farmers, it's a story of cost, time, and significant risks. Not everyone is qualified or willing to pursue such rigorous processes. In the early years, many farmers gave up; some chose to mix seeds to sell at a higher price, while others refused to change.
Huong was initially disappointed, but then she gradually realized that the problem wasn't that the farmers didn't want to do a good job. Rather, it was that they... It is not feasible to adhere to a standard that is too far removed from reality. From then on, she changed her approach. No coercion. No idealization. Just looking for simpler solutions – but still maintaining quality. For example, instead of building expensive greenhouses, she simply used tarpaulin to isolate the coffee from the soil.
It was a small adjustment. But it was decisive. Because it made the "standard" achievable.
Value lies not in the selling price, but in how it is made.
One of Huong's most important decisions was: Pay a higher price for quality coffee. While the market price was only around 70,000 VND/kg, she bought it at 95,000 – 125,000 VND/kg. This wasn't just a simple business strategy. It was a statement that if farmers did better, they would be better off. They deserve to be paid more fairly.. This creates a positive loop:
- Farmers are motivated to do well.
- Quality increased
- Product value increases
- The story became clearer.
And when the coffee arrives at the shop, the barista doesn't need to "overdo it." "Just roast it right, brew it right, and that's enough to show what it's made of." This statement, from Daklao itself, is perhaps a very beautiful definition of specialty coffee.
Fine Robusta – a difficult but worthwhile path.
For many years, Robusta was often considered "inferior" to Arabica. But Huong didn't choose to change the variety of coffee plant. She chose to change the processing method. Fine Robusta – with its rigorous process – produces a more complex, cleaner flavor, and is competitive in international markets.
Some coffee samples from farms that cooperate with Huong have won awards in Japan. This is not just an achievement, it is proof that:
Vietnamese Robusta coffee has the potential to go further if it's grown the right way.
Some stories don't need to be told loudly. They just need to live long enough, travel far enough, and follow the signals of the universe. Daklao, in a small corner of Dak Mil, is one such story. Perhaps that's exactly what Vietnamese coffee needs most right now: not another big brand.
Rather, it's about having more people like Huong – people who quietly do the right thing.
“"The development of coffee cultivation means the development of farmers' lives."”
It's a very simple quote. But if you look closely, it's not just about coffee. It's about how an industry – and a generation – chooses to move forward.
