What makes the tea-drinking culture of ancient Vietnamese people special?

Vietnamese tea needs no designated tea room as in Japan, nor the formal arrangement of teacups found in Chinese rituals. A clay kettle, a small pot and a few modest cups placed in the heart of a wooden house, perhaps beside a tray of betel and areca, with birdsong in the eaves, is all it takes to create a moment of quiet elegance.

Vietnamese tea-drinking culture is composed of two distinct streams: folk tea and royal tea. Records from the Le and Nguyen dynasties tell of royal tea at state banquets, diplomatic receptions and ceremonial rites, tea served with reverence, governed by ritual. By contrast, folk tea seeps gently into the rhythms of daily life, becoming a silent companion to everyday moments and a subtle thread of social connection.

In the memory of the old countryside, mornings often began with the delicate scent of green tea, simmered with guava leaves or freshly plucked buds. On scorching summer afternoons, a modest cup of green tea offered quiet relief, a sincere gesture to ease the heat. Come nightfall, around a warm brazier, grandparents would gather, hands cradling tea cups, voices lowered in simple, familiar stories steeped in familial warmth.

Therefore, the teapot is not merely a household object, but a silent witness to history; a vessel steeped in tradition, humanity and familial order. It holds moments of calm, stories shared between generations, and a portrait of village life that continues to linger in memory.

Vietnamese people have also upheld a refined tradition of tea-scenting, transforming the act of tea-drinking into an art form. West Lake lotus tea, for instance, is scented by layering lotus petals and dried tea overnight beneath the mist, distilling the essence of the natural world into each cup. Jasmine, wolfberry and chrysanthemum teas each reveal regional techniques that echo the aesthetic sensibilities of the local people. In each variation, tea becomes not just a matter of taste or fragrance, but a quiet meeting of sky, earth and human touch.

While the Japanese tea ceremony is a path to pure meditation, built on the principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity, often within dedicated tea rooms, Vietnamese tea is simpler, woven into the everyday. In Vietnam, tea is sipped on the front porch, under a banyan tree, in the courtyard of a communal house, or by the edge of the rice fields. It is there to remind one of the gentleness found in small, passing moments.

Compared to China, where tea is elevated into a theatrical display with elaborate brewing rituals, the Vietnamese approach is more understated. There is a fondness for the humble: brewing tea in a clay pot, sometimes with nothing more than harvested rainwater and placing emphasis not on the form, but the feeling.

In the West, tea is often presented through formal traditions like British afternoon tea, where etiquette plays a central role. But at its heart, it remains social. Vietnamese tea, on the other hand, is not a performance. It is a quiet companion meant for reflection, for conversation, for listening. It invites slowness, not stimulation.

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The 20th century brought with it upheaval: wars, political shifts, and sweeping waves of modernisation. Alongside the rise of coffee culture, alcohol, soft drinks and the expansion of urban life, traditional tea rituals began to fade. Once a fixture of everyday living, tea became something reserved for honoured guests or packaged for sale.

Yet in the early years of the 21st century, signs of a cultural revival began to take shape. Tea artisans, researchers and passionate tea lovers are leading efforts to recover the lost roots, from reviving ancient brewing methods and rediscovering native tea varieties such as Shan Tuyet, Bach Hac, Suoi Giang, Ta Xua, Phin Ho and Khe Coc, to creating new tea spaces enriched with poetry, calligraphy and traditional Vietnamese art.

Like the layered notes of a mountain symphony, each ancient Vietnamese tea variety carries its own distinct temperament. Shan Tuyet Ha Giang tea, cloaked in a soft coat of snow-white fuzz, holds the bold flavour of the highlands and a lingering sweetness. Suoi Giang Yen Bai, meanwhile, is rustic and pure, like the cool mist at 1,300 metres above sea level. Ta Xua Son La tea has a strong, ardent aroma saturated with the scent of the Northwest’s earth and sky. In contrast, Phin Ho Hoang Su Phi offers a deeper, more robust flavour, enriched by the age-old processing secrets of the Red Dao people. Then there is Khe Coc Thai Nguyen tea, with its gentle, light quality that mirrors the softness of the midland region. Each cup captures a fragment of Vietnam’s taste and colour: delicate, resilient, and enduring, much like its people.

True to the sentiment expressed by Trinh Quang Dung in Vietnamese Tea Civilisation: “Vietnamese tea culture is a culture of reconciliation and harmony. It is deep, not ostentatious, but permeates as long as the drizzle of the North.”

Reviving tea-drinking culture, then, is not merely about returning to old culinary habits. It is a reawakening of a once-vibrant way of life, a depth of spirit that formed the soul of the community. The tea culture of ancient Vietnam was never theatrical, nor was it framed as academic or elite. It was modest and rustic, yet carried profound resonance.

Even during moments when it seemed to recede or disappear, Vietnamese tea culture remained like a hidden stream, flowing quietly beneath the surface, nourishing the cultural roots of the nation. And now, in the midst of an increasingly hurried world, as people search for stillness and authenticity, the elegance of tea culture deserves recognition as a vital strand of Vietnam’s spiritual heritage.

With that spirit, each cup of tea becomes a trace of history, a continuation of a civilisation built on reflection and grace. Tea, in this sense, is not merely something to be tasted, but a path through which we revisit the cultural layers that shaped the land, touched the soul, and flowed through time.

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