Tuan Huynh is brewing up a cup of coffee from his family’s farm more than 8,000 miles away in the heart of Chicago’s West Loop.
“It is dense and strong and bold, just like our people,” he told NBC 5 Chicago as part of our coverage for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. “I always say we share our story, we build community, and we do it through the love of our Vietnamese culture.”
He opened up Vietfive Coffee two years ago to give Chicagoans a special taste of his Vietnamese heritage and to pay homage to his roots.
“The inspiration is to share my family’s journey, our refugee boat people story, but also bring Robusta coffee to the U.S.,” he said.
Huynh said the response has been overwhelming since opening the business' doors near the intersection of Madison Street and Aberdeen Street.
“Chicago has embraced me and allowed me to flourish with Vietfive with what we’re doing here in the city and for the city,” he said.
The coffee shop offers unique flavors and blends. The Robusta coffee beans are grown and harvested in Vietnam, then imported to the Windy City every quarter.
Local
“When they get to experience our coffee, they get to experience a piece of Vietnam,” he said.
But his journey to get here hasn’t been easy, growing up in Wichita, Kansas as one of five siblings.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
“My habit in responding negatively led me to gang life, drug life and eventually led me to a prison sentence, and after serving 15 and a half years in prison, a majority of that time in a maximum-security prison, I was released in 2011,” he said.
He later graduated from college and was recruited to work for a global agency in Chicago. He’s now turning his life lessons and struggles to inspire others in a city he now calls home, working with different community groups and organizations to take action and to spark conversations about representation.
“We want to create a space where stories are told, but also welcome to be told through our community building, it’s through our outreach, it’s through our initiatives how we serve,” he said.
With every customer that walks trough the door, he’s sharing his passion and love for Vietnamese coffee with the world one cup at a time.
“I want them to feel like they now become part of our journey,” he said. “Become part of our story.”
