Vy Nguyen’s order for 7,500 pounds of coffee beans just now arrived from Vietnam after nearly three months. All of those coffee beans will quickly be used to make drinks for a fast-growing customer base.
Nguyen owns Phinesso Coffee, which opened at 2000 W. Houston St. in Broken Arrow last November. It offers a variety of traditional Vietnamese drinks, including their staple Vietnamese coffee and various pastries and snacks.
“We just wanted to bring something different, something new, to Tulsa and Broken Arrow,” Nguyen said. “Obviously, there’s not a Vietnamese coffee house here yet. And we just felt like there was something missing.”
Phinesso Coffee keeps authenticity at the heart of the brand. The name combines “phin,” a Vietnamese coffee filter, with the word “espresso.” They brew using robusta beans, which Nguyen says have a more earthy and sweet taste.
What truly sets Vietnamese coffee apart, though, is the milk. They use sweetened condensed milk. Vietnam was a developing country without whole milk and refrigerators back in the days, Nguyen said. Condensed milk was the best way to make drinks creamier and taste good.
“There wasn’t a strong enough type of coffee that was to our taste,” Nguyen said of the drinks available in Tulsa.
So she created a space for that — as well as a way for her to bring pieces of home to Tulsa.
The pace of life is slower in Vietnam, Nguyen says. It’s typical to wake up around 4 to 5 a.m. and spend hours after work in a coffee shop. She moved to Tulsa when she was 8 years old but frequently visits Vietnam. When she goes back, Nguyen says the coffee spots are everywhere.
Through tropical decorations, Wi-Fi and open seating, Nguyen aims to bring that relaxed vibe to her own business. She wants friends to hang out in her shop, especially since she doesn’t see young people gathering at Starbucks like she did growing up.
Phinesso Coffee House is in Broken Arrow at 2000 W. Houston St. Credit: Tim Landes / Tulsa Flyer 
Phinesso Coffee House’s Strawberry Cheesecake Croffle is among the many breakfast options on the menu. Credit: Tim Landes / Tulsa Flyer 
Phinesso Coffee House is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Credit: Tim Landes / Tulsa Flyer
It seems to be working. Nguyen says she loves seeing the Asian community, especially younger generations, show up with their friends.
But she also sees growth in Tulsa’s Vietnamese population. She used to be one of the few at her school but now meets strangers all the time. She says her Catholic church is getting bigger every year, too.
The strawberry matcha latte and marble coffee are two of the most popular menu items at Phinesso Coffee. Nguyen would like to see more people trying their teas, which also gets shipped from Vietnam. Their peach lemongrass tea is made with an in-house syrup.
“I feel very, very appreciative and very grateful that everybody, when they come in here, they want to try new things,” Nguyen said.
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