A Brewed Awakening.

Coffee, condensed.

Hanoi, Vietnam – Thunder crashed like cannonballs through the old quarter’s crooked alleys.

In the process, sharp cracks and baritone howls shattered my dreams. It was thunder as I’ve never heard it.

It didn’t help I had only recently fallen asleep, kept awake by the electrical buzz coursing through my veins from a too-late-in-the-afternoon cà phê sữa đá.

Almost as prevalent as Hanoi’s scooters and bia hoi are coffee shops serving this other national beverage. Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer, and here, it is enjoyed slowly throughout the day on sidewalks that wrap around nearly every corner.

Cà phê sữa đá is coffee, dark as the night that painted my windows, which has been slow roasted – often in butter oil – and served over condensed milk and fat rings of ice. It packs a punch, and I know better than to have it so late in the day.

But it’s just that good.