Vietnam has a healthy drinking culture, and the heat and humidity will ensure that you hunt out anything on offer to slake your thirst.

You will never be more than a few minutes from beer. There is no national brand, but a rip-roaring selection of regional beers, some of them distributed countrywide. Memorise the words, bia hoi, which mean 'draught beer'. There are signs advertising it everywhere and most cafes have it on the menu. It’s the most popular beverage throughout the country and the  cheapest beer in the world

Xeo (rice wine) is as old as the hills. Formerly seen as a sort of cider for the country bumpkins, it is gaining new kudos in the cities as a cheap and cheerful route to oblivion.

Another Vietnamese speciality is ruou can (snake wine). This is basically rice wine with a pickled snake floating in it. This elixir is considered a tonic and allegedly cures everything from night blindness to impotence.

The preparation, serving and drinking of tea has a social importance seldom appreciated by Western visitors. Serving tea in the home or office is more than a gesture of hospitality, it is a ritual. Thai Nguyen tea is the most popular throughout the country.

Vietnamese coffee is fine stuff. There is, however, one qualifier: most drinkers need to dilute it with hot water. The Vietnamese prefer their coffee so strong and sweet that it will strip the enamed from your teeth.
Ordering 'iced coffee with meal' (ca phe sua da) usually results in coffee with about 30% to 40% sweetened condensed milk. Hot coffee with milk (ca phe sua nong) is available in big cities and tourist places, but not in more remote areas where they might not keep fresh milk.

Tip: Tram phan tram! and Zho zho!
Remember these words well as all over Vietnam, glasses of beer or wine are raised and emptied, cries of “100%” or “bottoms up" and "cheers!' echo around the table.