Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

    I came across real weasel coffee while holidaying in Vietnam in February 2012.
    I was in the Dalat area which has many coffee plantations up in the mountains in its Lam Dong province.  We befriended the owner of the hotel where we stayed, and over coffee conversations she (the hotel owner) learned that I love my coffee and am a keen home roaster. So she introduced me to her good friends who are coffee farm owners. The coffee farm owners generously invited us on a personal tour to visit their coffee farm in Lam Dong. They mentioned the authentic weasel coffee which they produce in very small amount each year. Having heard so much about the mythical weasel coffee (sampled it once in a cafe in Australia) and seen much artificial weasel coffee around the Vietnamese markets, I jumped at the chance to see the real thing.
    The scenic drive thru the Lam Dong area has endless hills of coffee plantations on both sides of the rough narrow country road. Each farm would have coffee beans laid out sundried at the front. According to the signs on coffee tree lots, it looked like the lower areas have Robusta trees, and the higher mountain areas tend to have Moka Arabica trees.
    At the weasel coffee farm, bamboo trays of weasel coffee (still in its weasel droppings form) are laid out in the front patio to sun dry. The droppings consisted of coffee beans clumped together. The cherry pulp had been removed by the weasel digestion process. Note that each bean is still inside its parchment. I could easily break off a bean and crush/rub the parchment off by hand to produce a clean looking green bean (i.e. no visual defects). Once completely dry, the droppings are then put through a machine to be scrubbed clean. I was told the Robusta also goes through a wash process before being scrubbed.
    We were shown inside one of the rooms where the weasels are kept and workers were transferring the droppings from the metal trays below the cages to the bamboo tray for sun-drying. The weasels are fed hand-picked ripe berries in bowls where they can select the better cherries.
    We had several tasting sessions of both weasel Robusta and Arabica coffee over several days. The roasted coffee came in pre-ground vacuum sealed sample packs of 100gm each. A sample pack can be purchased at the coffee farm for $10 (Robusta) or $15 (Arabica).  The coffee was made using the Vietnamese drip filter.

    Tasting notes from a novice cupper:
    The Robusta had a bold full body (another novice coffee drinker in the group mentioned the word “syrupy”), strong dark chocolate taste with a real kick and typical Robusta “burnt rubber” aroma. It was not very pleasant as a straight black; however I think it was smoother without the tobacco hardness I often taste in normal Robusta. Not sure if the smooth character is attributed to the coffee crop quality or the weasel digestion process. This better suited the locals’ palate because the strong taste stands up well against ice, sugar and/or condensed milk. Condensed milk combined with Robusta coffee makes an addictive sweet nougat-like white Vietnamese coffee.
    The Arabica had a noticeably thinner body. The taste and aroma were predominantly nutty and dark chocolate. I could not pick up any other aromas and this could be due to many factors; however I suspect the coffee being pre-ground and the very dark roast (the master roaster confirmed the beans are roasted into second crack, though I could not confirm how far into second crack) would help destroy any floral characters in the coffee. The aftertaste indicated a pleasant, bright but smooth lingering acidity that reminds me of the aftertaste of eating ripe strawberries (also abundant in Dalat area). I thought it was surprisingly nice although it did not suite the local s’ palate. They said it was “sour” and the master roaster confirmed he had to make it less “sour”. I suspect that is another reason for the very dark roast.
    I wished I had my little set up on hand to try different roasts of the coffee and different espresso based coffees.

    Bringing weasel coffee into Australia:
    Before taking your trip, you must apply and pay associated fees to be granted an import permit from DAFF (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Biosecurity before you are allowed to carry weasel coffee (whether green or roasted) into Australia as part of a passenger’s luggage.
    Without the import permit the weasel coffee will be confiscated and destroyed.

    Weasel Coffee Contacts:
    The coffee farm owners are looking for import agents for the weasel coffee.  If you are interested in contacting them or the hotel that can help arranging the coffee farm tour then please PM me.


    Photos of coffee farm with sun dried coffee:



    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

      Sun dried weasel coffee:



      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

        Hand picked ripe robusta cherries to be fed to weasels





        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

          Captive bred coffee producing weasels



          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

            Collecting and sorting weasel coffee:



            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

              How is this appetising to anybody? Like the comments earlier on, the captivity and force feeding of these poor animals defeats the purpose of the supposed premium selection process of the best cherries by the animals in the wild. By the looks of the photos, they look less than best had been picked by the captors.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Vietnamese Weasel Coffee

                The Trung Ngyuen coffee chain in Vietnam has created an artificial version of this by treating the beans with a patented enzyme that supposedly does the same thing to the coffee in terms of flavour. Ive tried that and it adds a caramel note to the coffee. Its nice but not anything miraculous. I certainly wouldnt be bothered paying a premium to drink the real deal. Coffees got a good flavour all on its own, why the need to pass it through the intestinal tract of a small mammal? Im going to do that myself.

                I rather suspect its cult status has something to do with some suppposed health benefit. Like ingesting rhino horns or whatever... : Honestly we should just enjoy the beans off the bush. I could always try feeding my greens to my persian cats, then fishing them out of the litter pan. Anyone want to try?.... ;D

                Anyway the t**d photo just turned me off peanuts and date rolls for life. :-X

                Legal Disclaimer - I have not and will not feed green coffee beans to cats, ever! No animal suffered in the making of that remark. And greens are far too expensive to waste that
                way.  :P 

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by specialpants View Post
                  I was in Vietnam recently and took this opportunity to try their weasel coffee.

                  I don’t know what to think - I went to a number of reputable chains, as well as local businesses. I noticed the roasted beans had a nicer scent compared to the other beans that were on offer. The results were good, but it didnt make me say WOW!

                  The thing I don’t understand is that this type of coffee seems to be everywhere – which leads me to believe that it’s not actually pooped out of an animal.

                  Anyways, I managed to find some green beans and I was curious to see if I could do better. The problem is, I don’t know what the green bean is supposed to look like and dont actually know if Ive been duped.

                  Does anyone have experience in this area?



                  Different bean shapes and sizes :-/


                  Rock... or fossilised poo* ;D
                  Hi, the beans you received is the peaberry coffee beans, you can read more of it on this website: Dalat Coffee. The Weasel coffee are the coffee beans which are roasted from the "product" of the weasel or civet after they ate the riped coffee berries. Since the coffee beans passed through a process in the stomach of the animal, the natural quality of the beans are enhanced. So, we can have the Weasel Robusta coffee bean or Weasel Arabica Coffee bean, it depends on the coffee berries that the animal had eaten before. For more information, you can check in this website: VIETNAMESE WEASEL COFFEE. Thank you!

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    I was given some weasel coffee yesterday by a student. A lovely, thoughtful gesture. Brought back from their holiday. As I took the coffee, Mum delicately asked me if I knew about the process, and I said I did, and that I was comfortable with it.

                    But in my head, as I held the packet, feeling its spongy resistance, I was thinking "ewwwww....




                    pre- ground."

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Can't say I would be comfortable consuming the coffee after seeing the photos above (nor can I unsee them now, although I wish I could).

                      But what makes me even more uncomfortable is seing the little guys looking depressed in those small cages and the girls (some looking like children) having to dig through s&!^ to sort out the coffee. God knows what harmfull bacteria they can pick up from that.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Too true. I'll clarify that the aspect I was comfortable with, was drinking the coffee that's passed through the weasel's digestive system. The photos sure do illustrate a pretty shameful situation.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Originally posted by roburu View Post
                          But what makes me even more uncomfortable is seing the little guys looking depressed in those small cages and the girls (some looking like children) having to dig through s&!^ to sort out the coffee. God knows what harmfull bacteria they can pick up from that.
                          How about SARS: http://coffeesnobs.com.au/blending-r...tml#post319303


                          Java "You want me to dig through what?!?" phile
                          Toys! I must have new toys!!!

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Originally posted by ppdo View Post
                            Bringing weasel coffee into Australia:
                            Before taking your trip, you must apply and pay associated fees to be granted an import permit from DAFF (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Biosecurity before you are allowed to carry weasel coffee (whether green or roasted) into Australia as part of a passenger’s luggage.
                            Without the import permit the weasel coffee will be confiscated and destroyed.
                            Just a quick update on the importation of weasel coffee without any licence:

                            The rules are now.
                            1. Up to 1kg.
                            2. Must be roasted.
                            3. For personal use and not for resale.
                            4. Sealed bags and not contaminated.

                            The quarantine guy, who dealt with my declaration this morning, never even looked at the bag, so I guess it's a commonly imported item.
                            Last edited by tiddler2; 6 April 2017, 12:29 PM.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Still ethically bad coffee

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Originally posted by trentski View Post
                                Still ethically bad coffee
                                Yep! the practice is unconscionable on a number of levels.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X