The story of the K'ho people making coffee.

Ten years ago, in Lang Biang…

Ten years ago, they had the chance to meet at a gong performance by a stilt house in Lang Biang. There, Rolan stood out with her graceful dances in a K'ho costume that she had designed and embroidered herself. Josh, like many other tourists who "accidentally" stumbled into the wild world of the K'ho people, was completely captivated by Rolan's eyes. His sincere feelings during their subsequent encounters won her over.

The day Rolan brought Josh home to meet his family, Rolan took Josh straight to the coffee plantation, where Rolan's family and relatives were harvesting coffee. Given a basket, Josh had to meet Rolan's relatives while also completing the task of filling the basket with coffee. After impressing them by carrying 50-80 kg of freshly harvested coffee from the plantation across the hillside, Josh received the approval of Rolan's family. Subsequent encounters helped Josh understand the unique culture of the K'ho people, and he became more connected to the K'ho community in Rolan's village.

That year's coffee harvest gave Josh his first taste of authentic K'ho Arabica coffee beans as he roasted them himself in a simple pan."Great!"The thought that popped into his head along with the delicious taste of the coffee completely surprised Josh.

Love blossomed, and K'ho Coffee was born.

Having a background as an agricultural engineer from Michigan (USA), Josh saw how Rolan's family and the K'ho people put so much effort into their coffee plants but only reaped little profit at harvest time. He began discussing with Rolan ways to make coffee farming more efficient.

Instead of harvesting fresh coffee cherries once or twice a year to sell raw to traders at a low price, Josh proposed a closed-loop approach to Rolan's family and neighbors: from switching from conventional coffee farming to organic farming to protect health, to selective harvesting (picking only ripe cherries, harvesting in multiple batches throughout the season), and then to meticulous attention to detail in each step such as selecting beans, drying properly, and roasting according to the correct process to produce batches of high-quality, unique, and valuable K'ho coffee.

All processing steps are done manually by the indigenous K'ho people. The meticulousness in each step transforms naturally grown Arabica coffee beans from the Lang Biang hills into a beverage with a very unique flavor. And that's how the K'ho Coffee brand was born.

With coffee as a "catalyst," Josh and Rolan's love story soon blossomed beneath the legendary Lang Biang mountain. A wedding followed, and children were born, continuing the journey of bringing K'ho Coffee to the world.

The journey of bringing K'ho Coffee to the world.

In 2015, during a trip across Vietnam themed "Made in Vietnam" to find unique Vietnamese products, I met Josh and Rolan – and we've been together ever since, along with other K'ho people, on a journey to bring coffee beans grown around the Lang Biang region to the world.

During a trip to Tokyo, Japan, with Josh and Rolan to attend the Specialty Coffee Fair, the Japanese and coffee lovers there were very enthusiastic when we shared stories about the K'ho people who grow coffee, about the land, the trees, the culture of the K'ho people, or the history of Da Lat and even Vietnam. Over their cups of coffee, they would close their eyes and feel the intoxicating aroma, or open their eyes and look into ours, and they could see the passion in what we were telling them...

Before leaving the fair, we made plans with our new friends to come to Vietnam soon, to Lang Biang, to visit the coffee plantations with the K'ho people, and immerse ourselves in the local culture.

A place where coffee lovers come together.

During that year's coffee harvest season, the first visitors flew to Da Lat, walking along the dirt road behind Lang Biang mountain to the plantations to pick the ripe, glossy coffee cherries; carrying sacks of coffee across the hills just as Josh had "conquered" Rolan's family before. They processed the coffee with their K'ho brothers, admired the blooming peach blossoms, listened to the birds singing, watched the sunset on their way back, and then participated in the processing stages at the K'ho village at the foot of Lang Biang mountain.

Distinguished guests can stay in homestays in the village, watch K'ho women weave, experience the culture and life of the villagers, or brew their own coffee and enjoy it right at Josh and Rolan's charming family coffee shop. There, they will meet Josh and Rolan's two adorable children, and of course, hear the story of the pioneering couple who brought K'ho coffee to the world, while simultaneously admiring the clouds drifting over the peak of Lang Biang mountain.

Having learned so many interesting things about K'ho coffee, everyone leaves the village smelling fresh, as fragrant as the cups of coffee they've so passionately enjoyed. The souvenirs they take home are brocade fabrics rich in K'ho culture, where the locals have subtly embedded many messages in each pattern: the sun, leaves, ants, eagle eyes… along with bags of K'ho Arabica coffee and endless stories about the land and its simple people.

And since then, with each coffee harvest season, K'ho Coffee farm has welcomed countless new visitors, people who come because of their love for coffee, culture, and the people of Da Lat. The journey of K'ho Coffee to the world continues to extend, adding more flavor to its offerings…

Additional information

• Timing: The "K'ho People's Story of Coffee Making" experience takes place over 3 days and 2 nights in November, December, and January each year – the time when the K'ho people harvest coffee.
• Location: Da Lat, Lang Biang
• Tour price: 3,969,000 VND/person
• Contact the tour operator via phone: (+84) 985 555 827

Shi Jang