Vietnam’s traditional drinks can’t be bottled into a single category, but differs according to geography, climate, and everyday rhythms. While many of these beverages are now found nationwide, their origins still trace distinct regional ways of living - from herbal infusions in the North to street-side refreshment culture in the South.
Imagine it’s midday and Ho Chi Minh City’s temperatures reaching 35–37°C. The heat settles in layers - on the pavement, on the motorbike seat, on your skin. At a street corner, a metal sugarcane press hums steadily as a vendor feeds in stalks of cane, ice clinks in a glass, and a line quietly forms.
These drinks act as immediate relief from this amid hot weather, even with conditions feeling hotter due to dense urban development.
Northern popular heat-relieving drinks
Nước vối (Lid eugenia tea)
In many Northern households, a kettle of nước vối (lid eugenia tea) sits quietly in the corner, brewed from the leaves or buds of the vối (syzygium nervosum) tree.
The drink has a light amber color, a slightly bitter taste, and a faint herbal aroma. But beyond flavor, it’s valued for what it does: aiding digestion, cooling the body, and gently supporting overall health. Folk knowledge, and now has been backed by research, points to its antibacterial and antioxidant properties.
Unlike modern drinks made for instant refreshment, you can slowly sip nước vối throughout the day, not just when you’re thirsty.
Nhân trần
Sold at countless roadside stalls in summer, nước nhân trần is one of the North’s most recognizable cooling drinks.
Brewed from dried herbs, it carries a slightly bitter, sweet after-taste. In traditional medicine, it’s known for supporting liver function, aiding digestion, and helping the body release heat, which explains why it’s especially popular among those who have been out in the sun or consuming alcohol.
The sweet does not come from nhân trần itself, to increase the sweetness and make it easier to drink, combine with another herb called cam thảo (licorice), corn silk, or add honey/ sugar while the water is still warm.
Nước sấu (Hanoi’s signature pickled dracontomelon drink)
A tangy Vietnamese drink, made from soaked dracontomelon fruits with sugar and ginger concoction, which balances sweet and a slight sour taste in a way that feels instantly refreshing. The fruit itself is rich in vitamins and has long been used in both cooking and home remedies.
More than just a drink, this fruit is tied to seasonality. When sấu trees ripen, jars appear in homes and street stalls across Hanoi, it signals that summer has truly arrived.
Central drinks to cooling down the dry heat
Xu xoa (seaweed jelly)
Along the central coast, xu xoa or xoa xoa is a popular, refreshing jelly dessert which has a naturally crispy texture. Xu xoa is made from a type of golden seaweed harvested along rocky shores that is usually available from lunar December to May. It transforms into a soft, jelly-like block after hours of boiling and straining, then cut into pieces and served with palm sugar syrup cooked with ginger and coconut milk. The combination makes it perfect for summer.
The process itself tells a story: of people waiting for the tide to recede, scraping seaweed off rocks under the sun, and bringing it home to cook.
Nước mót (Mot tea)
In Hoi An, a small herbal drink known as nước Mót has become a touristy and cultural icon. Made from a blend of lemongrass, ginger, lotus leaf, and other herbs, it’s designed not just to cool but to balance the body, it offers both refreshment and warmth at the same time.
Unlike older herbal drinks that lean medicinal, nước Mót feels intentionally approachable. The bitterness is softened, the aroma lifted, the flavor tuned for both locals and travelers passing through.
But perhaps its most recognizable detail is visual: a paper cup topped with a pink lotus petal, which represents part of Vietnam's scenery within a drink.
Southern ways to sip through summer temperature
Herbal drink (nước sâm)
Nước sâm is a fragrant, slightly sweet herbal drink made from a blend of cooling ingredients like longevity grass, sugarcane, corn silk, chrysanthemum flowers, and roasted licorice root. This traditional cooling herbal tea is loved for its refreshing taste and health benefits.
Inspired by Chinese medicine, it has evolved into a distinctly urban beverage, sold in large jars at street stalls across Ho Chi Minh City. Places like Hữu Duyên in Cholon have been serving it for decades, preserving a taste that many associate with childhood.
Sugarcane juice (nước mía)
Walk down almost any street in southern Vietnam, and you’ll hear the grinding of sugarcane machines. Nước mía is simple, freshly pressed sugarcane juice, sometimes mixed with kumquat or orange, but its appeal lies in that simplicity. It’s cheap, accessible, and instantly refreshing.
Priced very low, it is accessible to everyone. The drink is almost always served over a generous amount of ice, which, as it melts, slightly dilutes the sweet, grassy, and crisp flavor, making it extremely hydrating.
