‘We wanted the matcha’: Virginia woman orders Vietnamese coffee from D.C. area shop. Then it almost costs her life
A Virginia woman meets up with her friend to try Vietnamese espresso bar DRiP Cà Phê right outside of D.C. However, she starts to feel a strange sensation minutes after drinking a Vietnamese coffee.
In a video with over 697,000 views, TikToker Jill (@foreverjillll) says she initially planned to order the matcha flight, but was concerned that there could be tree nuts in the mix. So, she opts for a “flight” with Vietnamese coffee.
DRiP Cà Phê in Anandale, Va., is a popular Vietnamese cafe that offers aesthetically pleasing “flights” of matcha and coffee for customers to try a variety of drinks.
“We got the flights, and we’re trying to figure out which one we were going to drink first,” she recounts. “So, we were just sipping them. We were never going to drink full-sized coffees.”
However, as she sips one of the coffees, she notices something odd.
What happened when she drank Vietnamese coffee?
“I’m talking a little bit too much. I’m talking a little too fast,” she says. “I think I need to slow down.”
Her friend gets her some water as she gets more jittery and anxious. Jill gets up to “get some air” from outside to try to relax.
Before they leave to drive an hour and 20 minutes home, Jill says they had to walk around the block two times to try to burn off some of the energy from the coffee.
But about 30 minutes away from home, she starts to feel even weirder. She calls her sister, who tells her to take her jacket off and roll down the window to get some cool air on her.
“My arms got HOT. You know when you turn the TV on, and it’s fuzzy? My arms felt like that,” she says. At the same time, her heart rate skyrocketed. “I was like, ‘Oh my god. Am I having a heart attack?”
Jill pulls over and calls 911.
“So, the ambulance came and put me in the back,” she says.
She doesn’t end up going to the hospital, but wanted to get checked out by EMTs to make sure she wasn’t having a heart attack. That’s when she discovered that she may have accidentally “OD-ed” on caffeine from the coffee.
“They told me my sips of the Vietnamese coffee were equivalent to someone drinking a pot of coffee,” she says. “Never again. Beware. If you’ve never had it before, don’t drink it.”
@foreverjillll If you love your life you will listen to MEEEE? lawd have mercy on my SOUL!!!!!! Thank GOD IM ALIVE! #vietnamesecoffee #vietnamesedrinks #robustacoffee #heartpalpitation #beware ♬ original sound – foreverjillll
Is Vietnamese coffee actually stronger?
Vietnamese coffee uses a special type of bean, Robusta beans, which can have up to twice the amount of caffeine compared to typical coffee beans. According to coffee supplier Nguyen Coffee Supply, the high-caffeine beans combined with the drip preparation make the coffee significantly stronger.
To offset the strong taste, most Vietnamese coffee is served with plenty of ice. However, customers who haven’t had the highly caffeinated coffee before could be caught off guard once the extra caffeine catches up to them.
Viewers share similar experiences
In the comments, others say they’ve also been caught off guard by the strength of Vietnamese coffee.
“I had a Vietnamese coffee and remodeled a whole bedroom in my house in one day. Completely dismantled the furniture, posted it online for free pickup, had it gone that day. Went out and picked out new furniture which was also delivered the same day and repainted the bedroom,” one shares.
A second jokes, “Vietnamese coffee makes u smell colors man.”
“Vietnamese coffee sent me into a 3 day manic episode DON’T RECOMMEND,” a third adds.
Another recounts, “Tried my first Vietnamese coffee right before we left for the airport. Spent the entire flight thinking I was having a heart attack.”
The Mary Sue reached out to Jill via email and to DRiP Cà Phê via Instagram direct message for comment.
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