From a single phin, a story about Vietnamese and Hue coffee begins.
PhinHolic started from a very simple question: Why not phin?
As coffee gains more and more ways to be brewed, we still believe the small Vietnamese phin holds a value all its own. It is slow, familiar and approachable - yet flexible enough to create new experiences.
From there, PhinHolic was born in Hue in 2017, with the wish of making phin a natural part of modern coffee life.
“We do not see phin as a brewing method that belongs to the past. For PhinHolic, it is the starting point for exploring Vietnamese coffee in many different ways.
PHIN FIRST
At PhinHolic, Phin is where it all begins.
From a brewing method familiar to Vietnamese people, we began experimenting with many kinds of coffee, ingredients and brewing styles. Over time, the phin has become part of how we learn about coffee and develop new products.
Copper Phin (Phin Dong)
One of PhinHolic's most distinctive creations.
Since 2019, we have been researching and developing a copper phin, based on real brewing experience and what we observed from using the phin every day.
We experimented with everything from material, size and structure to how the flow is controlled. The goal was a phin with a better user experience while keeping the familiar way of brewing Vietnamese phin. The copper Phin meets high standards of refinement and care in brewing, and is handcrafted by a bronze-casting artisan in Hue.
Not to replace the traditional Phin, but to find out: if we keep the spirit of the phin and get creative with the material and design, how will the flavor and experience change? Vietnamese coffee deserves to be delicious in the Vietnamese way. Do you agree with Phin?
Salt Phin (Phin Muoi)
Besides the name salt coffee, we also call it Salt Phin.
The name comes from the way we brew it: coffee is extracted with a phin, then combined with a salt cream layer to create the bitter, bold taste of coffee, the creaminess of milk and a hint of balancing saltiness in the finish. It is also a way of recalling PhinHolic's most familiar idea: however the recipe may change, the phin remains the starting point.
Since then, salt coffee has appeared not only in the cups at our cafe but has also grown into bottled products, convenient products and new versions.
For us, the interesting part is not turning a drink into a “specialty”, but letting a flavor that began in Hue travel further than the table in a cafe.
A LUOI COFFEE - WHEN COFFEE TELLS THE STORY OF WHERE IT COMES FROM
Hue is not only where PhinHolic opened its first shops. It is also where we want to learn more deeply about what belongs to this land.
On that journey, A Luoi coffee became an important story.
About 70 km west of Hue, A Luoi was once a promising Arabica-growing region for Hue. The first coffee trees were planted in 2001, but after a while the growing area was gradually forgotten and many coffee plots were replaced by other crops.
Since 2016, Greenfields Coffee has been learning about and rebuilding this coffee region. Since 2018, PhinHolic has worked alongside Greenfields Coffee and the farming households in A Luoi, step by step improving the growing, harvesting, processing and quality of the coffee beans.
Season after season, A Luoi coffee has seen positive changes in quality and flavor. PhinHolic uses these beans in many brewing methods, from phin to espresso and manual methods, to bring a coffee story of Hue itself to more people.
A Luoi today is still a journey in progress - and PhinHolic wants to play a small part in that journey.
The A Luoi coffee journey
The first coffee trees were planted in A Luoi.
The first harvest
Harvesting the first coffee beans.
Cut down
Many coffee trees were cut down.
Revival
Greenfields Coffee revives and develops the coffee region.
New planting
2,000 new trees were planted.
Today
A Luoi coffee beans keep improving in quality.
FROM A COFFEE SHOP TO A SPACE FOR COFFEE AND HUE SPECIALTIES
When building PhinHolic, we wanted to create a space that is not only for drinking coffee, but also suits many different ways of spending a day.
PhinHolic now has two locations at 05 and 65 Bến Nghé. Both have two-story spaces, opened up with different seating areas, from spots near the street with more light and activity to quiet corners where you can sit for a long time.
The ground floor connects more with the rhythm of the cafe - the bar, guests coming and going, meetings and stories happening all the time. It is also where you can drop by quickly, order a coffee or sit down with friends.
The upper floor has a slower pace. The seating is arranged so you can focus on work, study, reading or simply spend more time with a cup of coffee. This space also lets everyone find a corner of their own without being cut off from the shared atmosphere of Phin.
Besides the coffee area, both locations have a Hue specialties and gifts area, so guests can discover more local products and stories in the same space.
For us, the two floors are not simply a way of dividing floor area. They are how PhinHolic creates different spaces for different purposes, while keeping one shared feeling: comfortable, close and enough to make you want to stay longer.
Phinholic 05 Bến Nghé
Phinholic 65 Bến Nghé
WHY NOT PHIN?
After many years, the original question is still here:
Why not Phin?
Why not start the day with a cup of phin?
Why not try a new kind of coffee with a phin?
Why not remake the phin in today's way?
And why not let a phin become a bridge between Vietnamese coffee, new growing regions and a new generation of coffee drinkers?
PhinHolic is still searching for the answers to those questions - one cup of coffee, one product, one phin and one story from Hue at a time.
“Phin First. Why not Phin?