One is a common drink you can find in Vietnam. It consists of a special roasting process using Robusta coffee beans which is the cheapest beans in the world. This is in comparison to Liberica and Arabica. When you drink Starbucks or Coffee Bean or majority of all the cafes using the Italian pressure method, all of them are Arabica beans. Luwak coffee meanwhile are Arabica beans typically, after digestion by the civet cat. It is estimated that naturally, there are less than 400kg which can be produced in the world. These days however, there are a lot of luwak beans everywhere when you visit Indonesia. I seriously doubt some of these luwak beans.
Personally, I have tried the Luwak Coffee before, once. RM35 / cup. Was it worth the money? May I be honest? Haha. Actually, once is more than enough. Surely the coffee is good? Yes, the coffee is quite special. However, I think one try is enough for me. Rm35 is said to be very cheap for one cup. I agree because my friend sells one cup for RM55 and yet it is sold out most of the time!
I have tried Vietnamese coffee many times and I still like it tremendously. Robusta beans are much more stronger than Arabica though not as aromatic. Differences in the roasting method ensures a different taste, must like the Hainanese Roast which is also different from the typical way how they roast white coffee in Ipoh. The ingredients they add in the roasting meant that none of these would ever taste the same.
I have Malaysian friends who said Vietnamese coffee is much better because it is stronger. I beg to differ. I love them all because each have their own specialty. Oh yeah, I have tried Spanish coffee too, with cinnamon. That, is definitely yucky… to me. Penangites would tell you that a cup of kopi-O is the best. Have also tried the siphon method of brewing Arabica coffee and have tried the ice drip coffee too. Siphon coffee gives you the purest form of coffee as it is temperature controlled. The ice drip coffee, now that’s very ‘elegant’ and you must try. Coming back to Vietnamese vs Luwak, there’s nothing to fight. As a commoner, I announce Vietnamese coffee the winner in this coffee duel.
written on 2nd jan 2014
Next suggested article: Vietnam Kitchen, One Utama
Leave a Reply