Anybody else think that Vietnamese coffee is more like cocoa?

The true Vietnamese coffee is not a blend of beans but 100% robusta, same as Italian espresso and nowhere near lightweight in either smell or taste.

Arabica is blended with robusta to attract the younger coffee drinkers who like Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

If your coffee tasted and smelled like cocoa, the shop probably blended robusta with moka.  I've seen coffee shops with signs either outside or inside clearly indicated that they served a blend of robusta and culi, robusta and cherry, robusta and catimor, robusta and arabica, etc. so their customers would know what to expect.

I advise you (if not already) to try the coffee from Dak Lak province (little productor, not Nguyen).
Very different, like a cream very dark and thick. Also very very strong.
In coffee shop in dak lak you can choose the "ca phe Sai gon" for people not habit with their local coffee.
I will never forget my first coffee in Buon ho...

I agree with what everyone else said. I think you stopped someplace with the cheap imitation stuff. True Vietnamese coffee is thick, dark, strong - and delicious.
   Look around and ask the older folks where you can get "the real deal." They'll no. Good luck and welcome to Vietnam.

P.S. I had my PC repaired here and it changes all the type on me - sorry English teachers.

Some places will have "nguyên chất" written on their advertising. It basically means the coffee is natural and original, or they could be telling porkie pies.

Never had that experience in VN.  Coffee is always dark and strong, just the way i like it.  I think you may have just not been lucky.

I'd been looking forwards to getting to Vietnam for a long time, and one of the highlights was the coffee. I'd read a lot about the excellent Viet coffee, the influence of the French on cuisine in general and couldn't wait.

But I was hugely disappointed. As soon as I got to my first and long-awaited cup of Viet Joe, my nostrils went into overtime as the waiter crossed the room - cocoa!

For the last decade or so, there's been a lot of hype and exaggeration about various food, beverages, places, etc. in VN like that time Obama ate bun cha. As such, a healthy dose of skepticism and lowered expectations is necessary. As Public Enemy mentioned long ago, "don't believe the hype".

At the same time, I have to agree with other posters in that you can probably find some better coffee by searching through the millions of coffee shops and getting some recommendations.

For myself, I have one of those drip cups, buy ground coffee from various places and have one cup in the morning to get me going. That's enough caffeine for me.

Usually, if I go to a coffeeshop, I have a sinh tố bơ (avocado smoothie) or sinh tố xoài (mango smoothie). Last time, I tried sinh tố dâu-xoài, a combination of strawberry and mango, which really was fantastic, and ended up having a second one.

By the way, "ít đường" means "little sugar", so it's not too sweet.

Anyway, although it's such a contrast to Thailand (not that the coffee is so great there), where I believe you were before, there are some pleasures to be found in VN. However, usually a bit more searching is required.

ask for ca phe den(black) nuong(hot)/da(iced) khong duong (no sugar) and believe me that will not taste like cocoa at all (it'll be a pretty bitter black coffee)

Mike Wagner wrote:

ask for ca phe den(black) nuong(hot)/da(iced) khong duong (no sugar) and believe me that will not taste like cocoa at all (it'll be a pretty bitter black coffee)

Nóng is hot.  Nướng is grilled.  Aside from the different spelling, the pronunciation is also distinctive different between the two words.

thank you so much for clearing up that huge misunderstanding!