The Workshop Coffee

Overview

The Workshop occupies the top floor of a 1912 French colonial building in Saigon's District 1, accessed through a discreet ground-floor entrance and four flights of stairs. It is widely cited as the first-mover that brought third-wave specialty coffee to Vietnam — running its own in-house roastery, championing Vietnamese Arabica from Central Highland producers, and building the country's earliest dedicated manual-brew bar (V60, Chemex, Aeropress, French press, siphon). The space — soaring ceilings, exposed brick, La Marzocco espresso machine, large central bar — became the anchor of HCMC's specialty scene through the late 2010s. Customer mix has shifted from ~80% expat at opening to roughly 50/50 today.

Known for

• First-mover of Vietnam's specialty coffee scene — third-wave reference point in Saigon
• Champions Vietnamese Arabica from Central Highland producers, blended for espresso with international beans
• Located on top floor of a 1912 French colonial building at 27 Ngô Đức Kế, District 1
• Full manual brew bar — V60, Chemex, Aeropress, French press, siphon — laid out as a teaching counter
• Clientele transition from majority expat to ~50/50 with locals over the past decade — a measurable shift in Saigon coffee culture

Why it matters

The Workshop is where Vietnam's specialty story starts. In a country built on dark-roast condensed-milk cà phê sữa đá and that just opened its first Starbucks well after Workshop's launch, the cafe normalised V60s, single-origin pour-overs, and the idea that Vietnamese-grown Arabica could be more than a commodity export — and did it from a 100-year-old building above an unmarked stairwell.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

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color sorting

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roaster machine

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filter equipment

Japanese siphons; V60; Chemex; Aeropress; Kalita; French press

cupping frequency

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roastery location

On-site at the Ngô Đức Kế café

espresso equipment

La Marzocco espresso machine

annual volume tonnes

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Café

Second floor (top floor), 27 Ngô Đức Kế, Bến Nghé Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Sources

• https://www.brian-coffee-spot.com/2017/06/12/the-workshop-coffee/
• https://cafescene.com/vietnam/the-workshop-coffee/
• https://www.bestcoffee.guide/pages/cafe-the-workshop-coffee-vn-5473
• https://thecitylane.com/the-workshop-coffee-district-1/
• https://www.thetravellingsquid.com/2016/02/28/the-workshop-in-ho-chi-minh/