Our story

đen

(adjective/noun Vietnamese): /den/

  1. Black.
  2. The kind of coffee that hits hard and lingers long.
  3. A devilishly bold brew born from Vietnamese roots with a playful twist of darkness.
Sunrise over a misty landscape of Vietnamese highlands with trees and buildings.

đen coffee

đen is the brainchild of Shay and Maxi, a siblings business and family affair.

Shay and Maxi were born and raised in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Vietnamese coffee country. Their identities were shaped by its coffee culture.

To them, coffee is community and connection.

đen was born out of the desire to share the best coffee from Vietnam and its rich culture along the way. 

Den's cofounder, Shay, wearing glasses and a light-colored blazer, sitting outdoors.

Shay Ho

Shay lives between Sydney and Vietnam to bring Australia the finest Vietnamese coffee beans sourced straight from small farms in Central Highlands of Vietnam.

A lover of Vietnamese food and culture and a talented designer, all đen artwork and branding is done by Shay.

One of their core childhood memories growing up in Vietnam is the rich aroma of coffee drifting through the classroom windows.

Den's cofounder, Maxi, standing with a camera among cherry blossoms

Maxi Ho

Currently resides in Sydney. 

A talented chef that has worked at Sydney’s top restaurants, including Messina, King Clarence and Oncore.

He is the Chief Experimenter at đen, using their unique coffee beans in new creative recipes.

Watch this space for his recipes using đen’s beans.

Together, they are bringing Vietnam’s best coffee beans to Australia. 

why den