Drinking Vietnamese Style

Vietnamese cuisine is world-famous, but few visitors to the Southeast Asian country think about what they'll be sipping on the streets of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. That's a mistake: the country's drinks are as delicious and diverse as its cuisine.


Green tea is the most common drink, and is offered as a courtesy to guests or visitors. The two most popular local beers are Saigon Export and Saigon Lager, but imported beers are available, at roughly double the price. Vietnam produces several varieties of rice wine - known as Ruou. However, bottles of Ruou commonly contain a pickled snake, the inclusion of which is thought to impart health-giving elements. There are also numerous varieties of locally distilled spirits, which do not include the reptilian element - even if they may taste as if they do. Fruit wines, such as apricot, orange or lemon, are also common, and Soft drinks are processed from the many varieties of tropical fruits. Bottled drinking water should be checked to ensure that the cap or seal is original and intact.


Vietnamese people don't usually drink while they dine, perhaps because most meals are either soup-based or include soup at the end, to fill up any "last holes." Enjoying a drink is a separate event, whether it's meeting friends for a coffee or stopping at a streetside stand for a refreshing juice. The exception, of course, is a boozy drinking session, where the focus is on the alcohol and the food is considered an accompaniment.


Mot, hai, ba, zo! (1,2,3, zo)
In English we say cheers, in Vietnam they say 1, 2, 3, cheers, usually while standing. I’ve also been told that zo means in, as in put the beer in your mouth.