Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam
The Workshop Coffee
The Workshop Coffee roasts in Ho Chi Minh City, District 1.
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
- filter equipment
- Japanese siphons; V60; Chemex; Aeropress; Kalita; French press
- roastery location
- On-site at the Ngô Đức Kế café
- espresso equipment
- La Marzocco espresso machine
Café
Second floor (top floor), 27 Ngô Đức Kế, Bến Nghé Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City