Sourcing Arabica from the Cau Dat Plateau near Da Lat

Vietnam is known for Robusta, and with good reason: Robusta makes up roughly 95% of the country’s coffee volume. The remaining 5% or so is Arabica, and the most recognised Arabica origin in Vietnam is Cau Dat, a cool highland area just outside Da Lat in Lam Dong province. For roasters looking for a Vietnamese single origin with sweetness and acidity, or for a traceable Asian Arabica with a clear story, Cau Dat is usually the starting point.

This guide covers what buyers need to know before requesting samples: where the coffee grows, which varieties and processes are available, what to expect in the cup, how lots are sized and priced and how Cau Dat compares with Son La Arabica in northern Vietnam.

Where Cau Dat Arabica grows

Cau Dat sits on the eastern side of Da Lat, on the Lam Vien plateau. Arabica was introduced to the area during the French colonial period, and the region has a long association with tea and temperate vegetables as well as coffee. Most specialty farms sit at roughly 1,400 to 1,600 m. Nights are cool, daytime temperatures are mild and the area receives substantial rainfall in the wet season, typically from around May to October.

Altitude slows cherry maturation, which tends to build sugar and acidity in the bean. It also makes Cau Dat beans denser and harder than lowland Arabica, which matters for roast development.

The name “Cau Dat” is used both precisely, for farms in and around the Cau Dat area itself, and loosely, as a trade label for Arabica from other parts of Lam Dong such as Lac Duong or Don Duong. Both can be good coffee, but they are not the same. When you request an offer, ask for the commune or village, the altitude range and, for specialty lots, the farm or station name.

Varieties

Variety	Share in Cau Dat	Cup tendencies	Notes for buyers
Catimor	Majority of trees	Can be clean and sweet when ripe picked; can turn astringent if underripe	Most commercial and many specialty lots
Bourbon	Small pockets	Rounder sweetness, softer acidity	Often sold as separate lots at a premium
Typica	Small pockets, older trees	Delicate, clean, lighter body	Limited volumes, often micro-lots
Newer varieties	Trial plantings on some specialty farms	Varies	Very small lots, ask for crop history

Catimor, a cross that includes Timor Hybrid parentage, was planted widely from the 1990s for its productivity and leaf rust resistance. Its reputation for a flatter cup comes largely from strip picking and fast processing. Selectively picked and carefully processed Catimor from Cau Dat can reach the low to mid 80s.

Harvest timing and shipment windows

Arabica harvest in Cau Dat runs roughly from October to December, sometimes into January at higher altitude. That is slightly earlier than the Robusta harvest in the lower Central Highlands, which runs roughly from November to January.

A typical buying calendar looks like this:

• October to January: harvest, processing and drying.
• December to February: resting parchment, dry milling and early offer samples.
• January to March: pre-shipment samples, contracts and lot allocation.
• March to June: shipment and arrival at destination for most lots.

Specialty lots sell out, so buyers who want a specific farm or process usually commit on the offer sample or even on the previous year’s results.

Processing options

Washed processing is the standard for Cau Dat Arabica. Cherries are pulped, fermented in tanks (fermentation times are longer at this altitude because of cool temperatures), washed and dried on raised beds or in polytunnels. Honey and natural lots have become more common on specialty farms, and a few producers run anaerobic and yeast fermentation trials.

Processing changes both cup and spec. Honey and natural lots usually have a slightly lower moisture limit (12% maximum) than washed Arabica (12.5% maximum), and they carry more drying risk. The article on Vietnam coffee processing methods explains each method in detail, including how drying choices affect moisture stability.

Cup profile and grade expectations

Well-processed Cau Dat Arabica tends to show brown sugar, stone fruit such as peach or apricot and citrus acidity, with a medium body. Honey and natural lots add more sweetness and red fruit. Common weaknesses are astringency from underripe cherries, flat or woody notes from overdried or old-crop coffee and occasional ferment in poorly managed natural lots.

Category	Screen	Moisture	Defects	Cup
Arabica washed, commercial	16+	12.5% max	5 or fewer primary per 300 g	Below 80, sold on grade
Arabica natural or honey	15+	12% max	8 or fewer primary per 300 g	Varies
Specialty Arabica	16+	12% max	5 or fewer full defects	80 to 84 typical
Micro-lots	16+	12% max	0 to 5 full defects	85 or more on selected lots

The grade framework follows TCVN 4193:2014 for commercial categories and SCA protocols for specialty scoring. The SCA protocols and best practices are the usual reference for cupping and green grading. For how Arabica sits alongside fine Robusta in Vietnam’s specialty offer, see fine Robusta and Vietnamese Arabica exporters.

Lot sizes and packaging

Cau Dat supply is fragmented, with many small farms and a limited number of processing stations. Typical options:

• Micro-lots: roughly 60 kg to 1 or 2 tonnes from a single farm, process or picking day, often packed in 1 kg or 5 kg vacuum packs or GrainPro lined bags.
• Farm or station lots: roughly 3 to 10 tonnes, a single process, usually in jute with GrainPro liners.
• Regional lots: blended washed Arabica from Lam Dong, sold by grade in full containers.

Many exporters require one 20ft container as a minimum, but some accept LCL shipments of about 2 to 10 tonnes, and specialty lots can often be consolidated with other coffee. For small roasters, combining two or three micro-lots from one exporter into one shipment is a common way to reach a workable volume.

Typical exporter terms for Arabica are similar to Robusta: 30% T/T deposit with 70% against a copy of the bill of lading, or L/C at sight, quoted FOB Ho Chi Minh City or CFR/CIF to the destination port. Specialty lots are priced outright in USD per kg or per tonne rather than as a differential to the New York Arabica futures market.

How to request Cau Dat samples

A clear sample request saves several rounds of email. Include:

1. Cup target: for example “80 to 84 SCA, washed, clean and sweet”.
2. Process: washed, honey, natural or experimental, and whether you want several processes from one farm.
3. Variety: Catimor is fine for most programs; ask separately for Bourbon or Typica lots.
4. Volume and timing: lot size and desired arrival month.
5. Sample size: 300 to 500 g per lot is standard, enough for moisture, defect count and two cupping sessions.
6. Documents: moisture reading, screen analysis and the exporter’s own cupping notes if available.

Ask for offer samples first, then a pre-shipment sample from the actual lot before shipment. Keep part of each sample sealed so you can compare on arrival.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Most problems with Cau Dat lots come from a small number of causes:

• Loose origin labels. Coffee from lower parts of Lam Dong sold as Cau Dat. Ask for the commune, altitude and processing station. Cup the lot against a reference sample you trust.
• Old crop. Arabica held over from the previous harvest can taste woody and flat even if moisture is in range. Ask for the crop year on the contract and check the color of the green beans.
• Underripe Catimor. Strip picked lots show astringency and a thin body. A ripe cherry target on the contract and a defect count on the pre-shipment sample help.
• Late season drying. Lots picked at the tail of the harvest can meet the start of wetter weather. Ask how the lot was dried and check moisture uniformity across bags.
• Blending between sample and shipment. The offer sample comes from one day’s picking, the shipment from several. Require a pre-shipment sample from the actual lot and state a cup score tolerance, for example no more than 1.5 points below the approved sample.

None of these are unique to Vietnam, but fragmented supply makes them more common. Clear spec language and a sealed reference sample solve most of them.

Cau Dat vs Son La Arabica

Son La, in the northwest of Vietnam, is one of the country’s largest Arabica growing areas by volume. It serves a different role from Cau Dat.

Factor	Cau Dat (Lam Dong)	Son La (northwest)
Altitude	Roughly 1,400 to 1,600 m	Generally lower, many farms roughly 600 to 1,200 m
Main variety	Catimor, with Bourbon and Typica pockets	Catimor dominant
Volume	Smaller, fragmented farms	Larger volumes, more cooperative and mill scale
Harvest	Roughly October to December or January	Roughly October to December
Main process	Washed, growing honey and natural	Mostly washed
Typical cup	Brown sugar, stone fruit, citrus	Milder, nutty, lower acidity
Best fit	Single origin specialty, micro-lots	Commercial washed Arabica, blends, some specialty
Logistics	Trucked to Ho Chi Minh City ports	Often trucked to Hai Phong in the north

For a roaster building a Vietnamese range, a common combination is a Cau Dat washed or honey lot as the single origin, supported by a Son La washed Arabica or a fine Robusta for blends. More background on the growing regions is on the origins page.

Send your Cau Dat Arabica spec

If you are looking for Cau Dat or wider Lam Dong Arabica, send your spec with cup target, process, variety preference, lot size and arrival window. You will receive a reply within 24 business hours, and your request is matched with up to 3 suitable Vietnamese exporters, processing stations or farms. They send samples, quote and work with you directly. The service is free for buyers and an NDA can be signed on request.