Hanoi’s humble beer glass and the memory of a nation(sundaylongread.com)

128 分 | 作者 NaOH 1天前

15 条评论

  • landgenoot 13小时前
    I use them on a daily basis, but I have my doubts about the health aspects. They have literal rough edges. I had to throw 10% away because I hurt myself while cleaning them and they are hard to clean.

    On the streets I saw some buildup dirtiness behind those edges directly below the part you touch with your mouth.

    Moreover, they are cooled down during the production process in the ashes, so they are very dirty when delivered.

  • jimmies 18小时前
    > Anh em ơiiii, vực nào sâu thăm thẳm? —“Brothers, what abyss is deep?” Vực nào sâu bằng cái ly này! —“What abyss is deeper than this glass?” Hò zô ta nào! —“Haul it up!” Kéo cái ly này lên! —“Lift this glass high!”

    It’s a pity that the writer didn’t elaborate on the origin of this “chant.” It’s a parody of a chant that’s originally for pulling cannons up the abyss of Dien Bien Phu. The battle alone killed at least 15,000 Vietnamese but brought decisive victory for the Vietnamese in its struggle to gain freedom from the French in 1954.

  • littleroot 19小时前
    I grew up with these glasses (they're used for other street beverage too, the second most common behind beers in HN would be iced tea), and now I'm growing old with them. They're an integral part of who I am at this point, I guess I'd tell my kids to bury me with a few so I could have beers down there with my friends too lol.
  • l5870uoo9y 20小时前
    > Bia hơi (pronounced “bee-ah hoy” and meaning “fresh beer”) is brewed without preservatives or added carbonation.

    Tank beer (tankova) from Urquell is same but it last a week or two in the tank to my knowledge and not just 24 hours as Bia hơi. It is properly the best pilsner in the world.

    • yostrovs 19小时前
      You don't get beer after brewing. You get wart. Beer you get after fermentation. Since it's alcoholic, it'll last more than one day.
      • cammikebrown 17小时前
        It’s “wort” and since the Vientnamese kegs aren’t pressurized with CO2, they will, in fact, spoil (oxidize) pretty quickly. It won’t kill you but it’ll taste like wet cardboard pretty quickly.
  • hodder 1天前
    Getting cranked on Bia Hoi in Hanoi with some locals is just an incredible cultural experience.
    • osullish 19小时前
      Yeah, it's great stuff - you can drink skips of the stuff and no hangover - well me 20 years ago could! I've great memories of sitting around on those tiny stools with friends - such a different drinking experience from home in Ireland
  • ripe 1天前
    Great read about a niche topic!

    I know almost nothing about Vietnam, but this article felt like I had visited.

  • neves 20小时前
    Great article, I visited Vietnam reading it. Now I want to buy a cóc
  • maplant 23小时前
    These glasses look absolutely stunning
  • christkv 22小时前
    Talking about weird cultural things. Pretty much every Spanish household has at least some of their drinking glasses made up of the glasses used by Nocilla (Spanish chocolate spread brand). https://dechocolate.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/nocilla.j...
    • prawn 14小时前
      Also not uncommon in Australia back in the 80s maybe, with the glasses from spreadable cheese.
    • mytailorisrich 20小时前
      It used to be like that in France with Maille glasses (mustard and gherkins).
      • kergonath 17小时前
        Amora mustard glasses are famous as well. They are designed to be reused as table glasses and often have pictures on them so children love to get them. My son used to badger me to get all the Pokémon ones.

        See here for an example: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KDIMNfsuM3s/oardefault.jpg

  • brcmthrowaway 22小时前
    Hmm, does everyone in Vietnam have a drinking problem?
    • 0x457 22小时前
      When I "lived" in Vietnam, they had more bars than coffeshop in the US, but they also had double amount of coffee shops. In Saigon I was never not in a short walking distance from a bar.
    • bluecatinthesun 20小时前
      I'd say somewhat. It is also tied to masculinity in a way, so it is a bigger problem for men.
    • sampullman 22小时前
      bia hơi is pretty light
  • dctoedt 21小时前
    FTA: the defeat of American troops and fall of Saigon in 1975

    This is a bit misleading: Yes, strategically the U.S. was defeated in 1975, but U.S. troops had pulled out in 1973, having essentially never been beaten on the battlefield — not that it matters, of course.

    • kergonath 17小时前
      You can indeed lose a war whilst having won all the battles.
    • Muromec 20小时前
      A gesture of good will as they say. They never wanted to get to redacted in three days anyway.
    • neves 20小时前
      Have you ever seen the videos of American fleeing Saigon?
      • dctoedt 20小时前
        > Have you ever seen the videos of American fleeing Saigon?

        Yes. I was a serving Navy officer at the time. My above comment stands.

    • Spooky23 20小时前
      That’s really splitting hairs. The Republic of Vietnam was a dead man walking, but it was a United States puppet state, and they finally collapsed in 1975.

      The cope stuff of “never beaten in the battlefield” is just bullshit. The point of fighting a war is to win. The military bureaucrats tried to apply kill counts as a proxy for victory.

      The army pulled out but everything didn’t just end. There was a variety of covert and semi-covert American presence remaining, both in terms of CIA people and “sheep dipped” contractors.

      • dctoedt 20小时前
        > That’s really splitting hairs.

        As software people are keenly aware, accuracy in writing is important.

        > The Republic of Vietnam was a dead man walking, but it was a United States puppet state, and they finally collapsed in 1975.

        I don't disagree. In hindsight, the U.S.'s political strategy was disastrous. American decisionmakers — like all of us — had to make their best judgments based on education and experience (and the often-malign influence of groupthink). Some factors were especially salient:

        • As WWII ended, the "Atlanticists" in the State Department supported France's insistence on retaining their Southeast Asian colonies (IIRC, because the U.S. wanted a strong anticommunist France to help stand up to Stalin and the Red Army after Germany's surrender). Also IIRC, FDR was inclined to support Ho Chi Minh's independence movement, but he was gravely ill by then.

        • The American political class was very much aware of the lessons of Munich in 1938; of Stalin's conquest of Eastern Europe in 1945; and of North Korea's invasion of South Korea in 1950. It wasn't unreasonable for them to fear the spread of totalitarian communism.

        • The governing Democratic Party was acutely aware of the political impact of McCarthyism in the 1950s, including being incessantly attacked by the GOP for having "lost" China in 1949 (as if China was ours to lose).

        • Douglas MacArthur's advice to President Kennedy — not to put troops on the ground in Asia — didn't carry the day. [0]

        Those interested in this debacle should read David Halberstam's magisterial book The Best and the Brightest. [1]

        [0] https://thediplomat.com/2018/10/a-new-take-on-general-macart...

        [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_and_the_Brightest

  • ErroneousBosh 21小时前
    > brewed it fresh daily

    This is not how beer works.

    • stryan 20小时前
      It's a new batch each day, but it's not drank in the same day it's brewed I suspect. Probably a week or two later, going off some quick research into "running ales", a similar English style of brewing.
  • ThePowerOfFuet 22小时前
    I found this really interesting. Thanks for submitting it!
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  • readthenotes1 21小时前
    "But in some corners of Hanoi, government officials still have exclusive access to special shops selling goods at subsidized rates. "

    Surely in a communist government access would be equal to all? Why would there be elites?

    • Muromec 20小时前
      Believe it or not, but there were different quality grades of commieblocks. You can guess who got the ones from the first, more quality batch.
    • Mainan_Tagonist 21小时前
      it's because it's not real communism.