After years of traveling the country to serve dumplings at concerts like Coachella and Head in the Clouds, Drunken Dumpling co-owners Crystal Huynh-Kim and Charley Phung shifted to a business that could keep them in Sacramento with their baby.

In March, the couple opened Chloe Ca Phe, a coffee shop named after their daughter, serving exclusively Vietnamese-sourced coffee and tea at 2521 Jazz Alley in midtown.

"It's not about taste alone," Phung said. "Why is it that our country and our people in Southeast Asia produce so much coffee, but the people that control the coffee world are not us?"

In the coffee supply chain, green coffee producers sell to exporters, who work with importers to supply roasters and coffee shops. Since most roasters can't afford to buy full containers of coffee up front, brokers front the money and resell smaller amounts at a markup.

General manager Jenny Nguyen pours hot water from kettle at Chloe Ca Phe in midtown on July 8, 2025.

Phung said this is an industry norm because it lessens the risk, but he wanted to break away from this model. "Why don't I just put my money where my mouth is and buy a (lot) of coffee," Phung said.

He traveled to Vietnam and made deals directly with farmers, offering to pay higher up front, bypassing any middlemen. Today, 7,500 pounds of Vietnamese-grown Robusta fill their storage room, each 350-pound bag hauled up a flight of stairs by Phung himself.

"I don't need a gym membership," Phung said.

Phung said most ca phe sua da, or Vietnamese iced coffee, sold at bakeries and milk tea shops in the United States is made with Arabica beans grown in Brazil or other parts of South America.

"If you're looking for a phin drip or you're looking for a ca phe sua da, there's 1,000 of those shops," Phung said. "We don't want to do that. None of them buy their own coffee. None of them roast their own coffee. None of them supply coffee."

Chloe Ca Phe currently supplies small coffee shops in south Sacramento and a shop in Texas.

Grown in Vietnam

At Chloe Ca Phe, specialties include the Shaken Pho Americano ($8), which is flavored with a syrup made by simmering roasted cardamom and cinnamon, echoing the spice base of pho broth. Phung said he was inspired by pho-flavored cocktails in Saigon and Vietnamese coffee company La Viet's pho coffee. The result is an unusual savory drink that is light and crisp.

For matcha-lovers, the Coconut Matcha Cloud ($8) tops coconut water with an earthy matcha cold foam. Phung sourced the matcha from Son La, in northern Vietnam and the coconut water from Ben Tre, in southern Vietnam, to create the drink's mild, sweet flavor.

"I was born three hours away from where those coconuts came from," Phung said. "My uncle, my mom's brother, used to chop down those very same coconut trees."

Chloe Ca Phe also offers pour-overs, espresso, tea and, from the specialty drink menu, an Earl Grey Espresso Latte ($7), a nod to Hong Kong-style milk tea.

Jenny Huynh (left) and Kal Kumar (right) have a conversation over matcha at Chloe Ca Phe in midtown on Saturday, July 12, 2025.

The Shaken Pho Americano and Earl Grey Espresso Latte are available at Chloe Ca Phe in midtown on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. The Americano is made with roasted cardamom and cinnamon infused syrup, echoing the spice base of pho broth.

Redefining Vietnamese Identity

Phung said he was inspired to open the coffee shop after returning to Vietnam after his father's funeral in 2023. His grandfather brought Phung and his mother to Florida in 1998 when he was 7 years old.

Now in Sacramento, where Huynh-Kim's family once ran a Vietnamese coffee shop on Stockton Boulevard, Phung wants to redefine Vietnamese identity through coffee.

"The biggest thing that lets people have their guard down so that you can share and relate is food," he said.

Phung said his goal is not only to build a sustainable business but to empower young Vietnamese Americans to engage in coffee entrepreneurship.

"There's not enough Asian people, in my opinion, in coffee in America," Phung said.

Through Chloe Ca Phe and Drunken Dumpling, Phung regularly hires members of Vietnamese student associations. In hiring students, Phung hopes they learn not just how to make coffee, but also business skills and management.

Luxury cars on display

The first thing you notice at Chloe Ca Phe is the high-end car parked in the middle of the shop.

"Every car in here has something that tells you that, like, these (car owners) have been a part of my life," Phung said.

The vehicles come and go. Some stay for a day, others for weeks. Friends often ask him to store them while renovating their homes or clearing out garage space.

"Every car in here has a story," Phung said.

Currently, a Porsche GT3 Cup car sits at Chloe Ca Phe, waiting on maintenance parts. The GT3 Cup, based on the Porsche 911, is a custom race car modified specifically for track performance.

While the coffee business allows Phung and Huynh-Kim more time to spend with their daughter, it also gives her more opportunities.

"Maybe she doesn't want to be in school, maybe she wants to take over the family business, or maybe she doesn't want to be in coffee and she thinks dad is crazy, but she wants to be an artist," Phung said. "I want her to have the ability to dream without limitations."

Chloe Ca Phe is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Coconut Matcha Cloud is available at Chloe Ca Phe in midtown on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Both the coconut water and matcha powder are sourced from Vietnam.