Coffee
Coffee
**Part 1**
2 kinds of Coffee
So, coffee seems to be something that a lot of people still debate on here. While i am not the almighty coffee bean guru, I do know a thing or two about coffee in Cambodia considering I am a coffee wholesaler. I hesitated to write this piece for the fear of shamelessly plugging my business, so I have decided to not advertise my place or products in anyway, only for comparison purposes.
There are two kinds of "coffee" here basically.
^^^Type 1 (Real Coffee) coffee that we are familiar with. It's coffee bean grinds with hot water poured over them to make a nice cup of bitter brown goodness. This what my business deals with, and I wholesale for $8 a kg, and I promise I am in direct competition with all the wholesalers here, beating most of them pricewise. Most sell around $9.50 a kilo. Compare that to Lucky Lucky at $15 a kg or even the local market by my house that sells pure Arabica for $6 for 250g and you’ll realize quickly why the second type of coffee exists.
^^^Type 2 (Soy bean and corn "coffee" These is more often than not, what the Vietnamese places serve. I know, because I’ve never been able to sell my coffee to them because “too much, we want cheap”. What this stuff is, is a blend of roasted soybeans, blackened corn, and maybe some coffee. Then to add flavor, a flood of flavorings is poured over it and allowed to soak into the "bean" grinds.
Now you might think, right.....ground soybeans and corn? Yeah right. Well, I went on a shopping spree to Orussei recently and bought myself 10kg of fake coffee for comparison purposes (all the above were about $3 a kg). However, since I was a foreigner and "interested" in making fake coffee, the sellers there were more than happy to point me to the "coffee starter" kits for businesses. I used my Japanese powers to get some insider info and got a free starter kit and a bunch of recipes. Khmer really don't trust Khmer but they trust Japanese sadly. They spilled the beans (pun intended) with me and told me the whole process and how it goes. It's not really a big secret. Anyway, I'll document the process along the way when our "coffee" gets made and show you from start to finish how it's done. The point of this post is just to show you that yes, if you drink cheap coffee, it's likely soy water with corn.
However, in case you think I just bought a bag of black corn and soybeans to try and discredit my fake making competitors, just look at the bag from a genuine Vietnamese coffee brand. It says straight up "Dau Nanh" or soybeans. You also get "Cherry" too!
To be continued
2 kinds of Coffee
So, coffee seems to be something that a lot of people still debate on here. While i am not the almighty coffee bean guru, I do know a thing or two about coffee in Cambodia considering I am a coffee wholesaler. I hesitated to write this piece for the fear of shamelessly plugging my business, so I have decided to not advertise my place or products in anyway, only for comparison purposes.
There are two kinds of "coffee" here basically.
^^^Type 1 (Real Coffee) coffee that we are familiar with. It's coffee bean grinds with hot water poured over them to make a nice cup of bitter brown goodness. This what my business deals with, and I wholesale for $8 a kg, and I promise I am in direct competition with all the wholesalers here, beating most of them pricewise. Most sell around $9.50 a kilo. Compare that to Lucky Lucky at $15 a kg or even the local market by my house that sells pure Arabica for $6 for 250g and you’ll realize quickly why the second type of coffee exists.
^^^Type 2 (Soy bean and corn "coffee" These is more often than not, what the Vietnamese places serve. I know, because I’ve never been able to sell my coffee to them because “too much, we want cheap”. What this stuff is, is a blend of roasted soybeans, blackened corn, and maybe some coffee. Then to add flavor, a flood of flavorings is poured over it and allowed to soak into the "bean" grinds.
Now you might think, right.....ground soybeans and corn? Yeah right. Well, I went on a shopping spree to Orussei recently and bought myself 10kg of fake coffee for comparison purposes (all the above were about $3 a kg). However, since I was a foreigner and "interested" in making fake coffee, the sellers there were more than happy to point me to the "coffee starter" kits for businesses. I used my Japanese powers to get some insider info and got a free starter kit and a bunch of recipes. Khmer really don't trust Khmer but they trust Japanese sadly. They spilled the beans (pun intended) with me and told me the whole process and how it goes. It's not really a big secret. Anyway, I'll document the process along the way when our "coffee" gets made and show you from start to finish how it's done. The point of this post is just to show you that yes, if you drink cheap coffee, it's likely soy water with corn.
However, in case you think I just bought a bag of black corn and soybeans to try and discredit my fake making competitors, just look at the bag from a genuine Vietnamese coffee brand. It says straight up "Dau Nanh" or soybeans. You also get "Cherry" too!
To be continued
Last edited by AK87 on Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Interesting stuff, AK.
I can't profess to being much of a coffee aficionado myself. I generally have just one cup a day, and where I go depends more on what sort of ambience I'm looking for so I'm just as comfortable killing an hour or two in Costa, as I am at a local Vietnamese café.
I know. I'm a heathen.
I can't profess to being much of a coffee aficionado myself. I generally have just one cup a day, and where I go depends more on what sort of ambience I'm looking for so I'm just as comfortable killing an hour or two in Costa, as I am at a local Vietnamese café.
I know. I'm a heathen.
This whole time I thought I liked coffee. I'm shocked to find out it's soy beans that I love so much!
Official orders usually don't go below 10 kg (today's total made 65 kg), but I usually keep a 5 kg stash at my house that I sell in any desired quantity. That is, if you can catch me at home. There's quite a few people already that just buy one or two bags at a time so I don't mind if you pick up a "sample" bag.
AK87 wrote:Official orders usually don't go below 10 kg (today's total made 65 kg), but I usually keep a 5 kg stash at my house that I sell in any desired quantity. That is, if you can catch me at home. There's quite a few people already that just buy one or two bags at a time so I don't mind if you pick up a "sample" bag.
I bought 2 kilos from AK87 to take back to Oz with me a few weeks ago,
I did not know how bad the local crap was until I got home a brewed myself a cup of his.
on a good brew.
I refuse to go out with nothing more than a whimper followed by a small farting sound and a shit stain on my bed sheets..
Just thought I'd share that with you.
Just thought I'd share that with you.
That's bloody interesting. So the cheap ground black coffee that tastes suspiciously sweet with vanilla and chocolate undertones is probably what? 50%? 20% coffee? 10%?
Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.
0%.MoodyMac wrote:That's bloody interesting. So the cheap ground black coffee that tastes suspiciously sweet with vanilla and chocolate undertones is probably what? 50%? 20% coffee? 10%?
I think the Scotts were the first in the fake coffee business in 1885 with this stuff
A mixture of coffee essence, chicory and sugar. My grandfather actually drank this concoction!
The company eventually changed their lable to a more PC version
Evidently:
The image is based on a Victorian military hero, Major General Sir Hector Macdonald, an ordinary soldier who turned down a Victoria Cross in favour of a commission and attained high rank. That the man who was known as "Fighting Mac" is now forgotten is evidence of a fall from grace which ended in him taking his own life after a whispering campaign suggesting he was a homosexual. Macdonald, shot himself in the head in his bedroom in a Paris hotel on 25 March 1903, apparently minutes after reading a front-page story in the New York Herald suggesting he faced a "grave charge".
Probaly explains why to coffee was called "camp"
A mixture of coffee essence, chicory and sugar. My grandfather actually drank this concoction!
The company eventually changed their lable to a more PC version
Evidently:
The image is based on a Victorian military hero, Major General Sir Hector Macdonald, an ordinary soldier who turned down a Victoria Cross in favour of a commission and attained high rank. That the man who was known as "Fighting Mac" is now forgotten is evidence of a fall from grace which ended in him taking his own life after a whispering campaign suggesting he was a homosexual. Macdonald, shot himself in the head in his bedroom in a Paris hotel on 25 March 1903, apparently minutes after reading a front-page story in the New York Herald suggesting he faced a "grave charge".
Probaly explains why to coffee was called "camp"
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I bought the Chong Ter brand which says its Arabica/Robusta on the packet and sells for $2 for 500g at lucky's. Taste okay to me. I've tried some of the more expensive coffee from sellers near central market and they're invariably a little too bitter for me.
I remember Camp Coffee well. It was a staple in our kitchen when I was growing up in the 1970s.
Incidentally, for a thread which aimed at not plugging his business, AK is earning a shitload of orders. And good on him. Sounds like a decent product.
Incidentally, for a thread which aimed at not plugging his business, AK is earning a shitload of orders. And good on him. Sounds like a decent product.
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