Coffee is a very essential part of many people’s daily routine. But you ever have tried the Weasel coffee.
Let’s take a look at the Kopi Luwak, the best origins of all and highlight in this article 5 unknown fact about vietnamese civet coffee, one of the most luxurious beverages in the whole world.
Weasel Coffee : what is exactly civet coffee ?
Weasel coffee is also known as Kopi Luwak in Indonesia. It is made by the process of Asian palm civets cherry eating. It is a small mammal between the raccoon and mongoose. A mongoose is a kind of house cat. This furry little animal eats the cherries, which they cannot digest. Then they digest the upper shells of the cherry and made the bean excrete. The farmers later discover the beans and washed them thoroughly. Then they keep roasting it to dry out for making the best coffee.
In this video, Movetoasia is bringing you to a weasel coffee tour in Dalat region, Vietnam to illustrate to you what is vietnamese civet coffee is. To learn more about different types of coffee in Vietnam, you can also read this dedicated page on movetoasia.
When you are offered a cup of mongoose poop coffee, you cannot be suspicious because the flavor is extremely good. The civets digesting process have done the ferments of the cherries. Civet’s stomach changes the chemical composition of the bean which resulted in a great cup of coffee. The smooth coffee with salted caramel offers the deep flavor of unique coffee.
According to the people of Pho Co, the weasel coffee roaster process of Hanoi is of great quality. It is the civet’s subtle taste that helps the Kopi Luwak coffee to reach the highest level of its flavor. Because the civets don’t even touch the tree which is sick or the unripe fruit. They choose the best ripen red berries in the trees ensures the coffee has good quality to taste. The weasel team of the expert award must be given to the civets.
Let’s dig into the 5 unkowns facts about Vietnamese Civet coffee also called Kopi Luwak.
#1 The Scientific Farm Of Weasel Bred Coffee
Researchers say that the digesting process of the civets does changes to the beans. The enzymes a civets stomach produces are going through the beans which are in the pectin layer of the animal. It changes the protein structure and even the Molecular structure for creating a natural sugar and ripening the flavor at a higher quality.
#2 Origins of this famous asian palm civets
Coffee was first cultivated by the colonists. They use the Vietnamese laborers and the locals were not restricted from sampling the money earning crop by themselves. A civet coffee farm was usually in the highlands of Vietnam. A farmer took the beans secretly from the weasels dropping and brought them home. Then the farmer made a coffee process secretly which was better than the natural stuff.
Then the farmers collected the beans and washed them thoroughly. Later they had their coffee-making process. Quickly they realize it is a better bean that is passed through the civet’s stomach. Nowadays Dalat has many Asian palm civets based on an organic farm. Every year there is a specific coffee season that is usually at the end of October to February. During this season weasels eat the cherries two or three times a week.
If anyone wishes to see the weasels doing their work then you have to go to Vietnam throughout the coffee season. Then you have to travel up to the mountain tops for watching the cats doing their business. This is the fresh and great coffee source you can try out.
#3 Uncomfortable Fact about the vietnamese Kopi Luwak
Weasel coffee is the most increasingly famous bred all over the world but the natural process is a very hard task because the farmers need to search a whole area of the jungle to find the stools of a civet. They might eat a few beans and that will cost higher. You might have to buy it in a trendy coffee shop at a higher price.
This higher demand of the customers has risen the civet poaching in Vietnam. Some of the farmers try to collect the civets from the wild area and make illegal trade of them. Enough space and access to diverse the diet of the animal are imposed.
These acts should be controlled by undertaking to a regulation. There are several wide ranges of farms around Dalat. But the additional pressure on the farmers is the main reason for pricing it high. An organic or free-roaming civet farm is capable to manufacture the amount of coffee which costs around 3500 US dollar per kilo.
#4 Civet fake weasel coffee
It is a great abuse that the animal which produces the most appealing drink of the world that have no proper price tag. But it is good news if you have a cup of coffee in Hanoi or buy coffee to send it to your home country then you are not in the process of abusing their efforts. You have to buy a cup of Weasel coffee in Hanoi at approximately 1.5 US dollars. The reason behind the low price is the Weasel coffee you drink might not be close to any civet ever. It does not mean you are being cheated.
The civet’s digestion function ferment the cherries. Then they sit to poop and you get a properly acidic and enzymatic juice mixed with it. The Vietnamese coffee producers are concerted to make fake Weasel coffee for the world. The fermentation technic made with bacteria and produces nearly the same kind of drink at a time. It is even hard for scientists to distinguish between the two drinks.
#5 How to brew the coffee at home
It is a step by step process to make a Weasel coffee at home perfectly. If you want to avoid the Weasel part of the coffee then buy artificial stuff from trusted retailers. You will also need a Vietnamese coffee filter known as phin. They are available online and nearly cost 8 dollars. First, rinse the coffee filter with boiling water and add three tablespoons of coffee then press down the ground circularly. It is recommended to try out the first attempt with low expensive coffee.
Boil the water at 92 degrees Celsius and add 10-20mL wet grounds and wait for half a minute. Next, add about 100mL water. Now, wait for the coffee to drip. If it is not dripping then adjust the press to loosen. After 5 minutes you might have a delicious Weasel coffee.
