City of Coffee

This is not only the first time I have ever tasted Vietnamese coffee — it's the first time I have tasted a cup of 100 percent robusta coffee. I may not like it, but it's enormously important to commercial coffee roasters.

Vietnam is the second-largest coffee-producing nation in the world, and while its coffee doesn't land at the Port of Houston, it eventually arrives here anyway. It is unloaded in Southern California ports and shipped to Houston by rail for roasting.

Howell, Paul S.

Coffee King Carlos de Aldecoa is the third-generation scion of an international coffee dynasty.

Howell, Paul S.

The Maximus Coffee Group's plant on Harrisburg is a million-square-foot facility that roasts coffee for several national brands.

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I ask de Aldecoa if Houston will eventually become the top coffee port in America. The coffee that is unloaded at the Port of Houston doesn't tell the whole story of Houston and coffee, he says. You also have to include the Vietnamese coffee that arrives here by rail.

"Measured by total tonnage, Houston is probably already the nation's top coffee city."

robb@robbwalsh.com