(Caution - this post may seem kinda gross.)
My first food service job out of college was working at the coffee kiosk in Mizzou's Memorial Union. At that time, before the big Starbucks boom, it was the only place that served Starbucks coffee in mid-Missouri. In my boredom, during the mornings and evenings when I worked there I'd spend free moments during the shift reading the labels. It seemed Starbucks liked to brag just as much about the source of the coffee as the flavor. Among others, I remember Kenya Special Blend, Sumatran Decaf, and Guatemala Antigua being popular offerings at the cafe.
My friend Byron, owner of Nanyang Goodmorning Cafe in Singapore, is a coffee connoisseur with clientele from all over the world. Recently he had a friend come back from a trip to Vietnam that brought back a version of the most expensive type of coffee in the world - Kopi Luwak.
Luwak is the Malay word for civet. A civet cat is basically the same thing as a weasel. What makes this "special weasel coffee" so unique is that the beans have been eaten, digested, and defecated by a weasel. But don't worry, you're not drinking it straight (they clean and strain the beans, and roast them in margarine and other flavorings.)
It should also be noted that the version Byron had wasn't the most expensive coffee in the world. The kopi luwak that I drank apparently came from a caged civet cat and wasn't the premium version which is sifted from jungle scat piles. Darn.
Byron prepared the coffee in a Vietnamese style press-pot. On my trip to Vietnam, I specifically remember these little devices being used to make cups of coffee. Byron's technique proved just as good as his Vietnamese counterparts.
Honestly, though, this coffee doesn't really live up to the hype. There's not a flavor so unique here that you couldn't find something just as good in Starbucks. If you look past the preparation process, the coffee tastes like nothing more than a strong blend of hazelnut. It wasn't a bad cup of coffee, but it wasn't so good that it was worth seeking out. This is purely a novelty delicacy prepared solely to give someone bragging rights.
And, unless you ask me about it, from this moment on I won't be discussing this food in public. You've got to consider the source.
4 comments:
Agree - wasn't as amazing/unique a taste - maybe i was expecting more. Have you noticed though, Vietnamese coffee tends to have a stronger, more natural hazelnut flavour than the brews promoted in coffee chains?
The Vietnamese coffee was very strong. I remember meeting a Kiwi who obnoxiously talked about how great the coffee was during every other minute. "Kopi Dien," I think he called it.
Byron also thought that his Vietnamese coffee wasn't quite as thick as the authentic stuff, but he didn't exactly know what they did to make it that way.
Yes, I like that coffee too.Strong.
Let me do a correction, coffee beans pass through the civet undigested, that is why we can still prepare coffee with the dropped beans. If you want to know more about Kopi Luwak and its process visit
www.realkopiluwak.com
you can also buy it online. Thanks
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