Most people mention Vietnamese weasel coffee. However, the fact is that civets are grown to process this type of coffee. So, in the article, the terms civet and weasel have the same meaning.
Weasel coffee in Vietnam is produced by feeding weasels with fresh coffee berries, then taking the beans from their feces to clean and process into roasted and ground coffee.
Civets’ digestive systems secrete chemicals that give weasel coffee a special flavor. Only a few countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Vietnam, can produce this type of coffee in limited quantities.
Weasel coffee is quite expensive because the production process of this coffee is also unique.
How is weasel coffee in Vietnam?
Weasel coffee is ranked among the most unique drinks in the world. The taste of coffee beans is created through the digesting process in the stomachs of weasels, especially by the action of enzymes that change the components inherent in coffee beans.
If you take the time to enjoy this cup of coffee, you will feel the Vietnamese weasel coffee flavor similar to the smell of smoke but faintly chocolatey, slightly fatty, less sour, and pleasant.
Where does weasel coffee come from?
Weasel coffee has the English name Kopi Luwak, in which the word “Kopi” means coffee in the Indonesian language, and “Luwak” is the name of a region on the island of Java and also the name of civet cats living in the area of that island.
The civets mentioned are also known as spotted civets, palm civets, or loofahs. They live throughout Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, people raise civets to produce this typical type of coffee.
What is the price of Vietnamese weasel coffee?
Indonesian weasel coffee is rated the best, and its price is also high, at up to 1,300 USD per kg. About 200 kilograms of Indonesian weasel coffee is supplied to the world market every year.
In addition, the production of this type of coffee in other countries is also limited. For example, weasel coffee is produced in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, using the same production process as in Indonesia.
Depending on the origin, the price of Vietnamese weasel coffee ranges from a few hundred thousand to several tens of millions of dong per kilogram.
In the Central Highlands of Vietnam, including Da Lat and Buon Ma Thuoc, you can taste a cup of weasel coffee for 200,000 Vietnamese dong.
Specifically, Weasel Coffee in Trung Nguyen – a famous coffee brand in Vietnam, has many types, such as:
- Premium weasel coffee is about 17 million VND/box of 250 grams.
- Legend Trung Nguyen weasel coffee is about 795 thousand VND/box of 225g.
- Mocha Legend weasel coffee is about 800,000 VND/box of 51 grams.
- Natural weasel coffee is more than 4.5 million VND/box of 125 grams.
Tip: This real, high-quality coffee is expensive for a natural collection, and it is rare to get real weasel coffee in Vietnam.
Because in nature, weasels will choose the best ripe coffee fruits to eat. After dropping, these are excellent high-quality, suitable for a high price.
However, many farms unnaturally feed the weasel with coffee beans, creating this coffee type. It is less expensive and less tasty than it used to be.
>> You may want to see the popular Vietnamese coffees.
Where to see the process of making Vietnamese weasel coffee
A weasel coffee farm with 2.4 hectares in the Trai Ham area, Ward 10, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, has become an interesting destination for many domestic and foreign tourists to see the famous and unique production process of weasel coffee.
The first weasel coffee farm in this mountain town of Da Lat has invested more than 42 billion VND. After years of research and acquisition of Moka coffee gardens, the owner set up this farm.
This farm has a coffee garden, and the owner also makes cages and raises 120 weasels (actually civets) to produce weasel coffee according to a closed process. This is also why tourists come to this farm.
Weasel coffee, or rather weasel manure coffee, is currently sold by this farm for 20 million VND/kg of dried beans.
Weasels eat ripe coffee berries. Each time, weasels only choose to eat about 30-40% of the coffee beans the owner provides. The coffee beans come out with the same manure and are harvested, washed, and dried. Then, they are put in the incubator for a specific time. After that, the owners roast and grind them into powder. That is ready for selling.
You will see a clean coffee garden and go to the weasel farming area to see firsthand how this enjoyable Vietnamese weasel coffee is produced.
Weasel coffee in Vietnam is only produced from coffee beans discharged by a flavorful weasel. Due to the large size of the brown weasel, the teeth are also strong, so it often chews and breaks the husk covering the coffee beans, causing the coffee beans to absorb gastric juice and weasel droppings. The smell is extremely unfriendly and cannot be turned into a drink.
In contrast, the civet cat’s size and teeth are small, too, so the husk covering the coffee beans is kept intact, ensuring a delicious and attractive flavor.
Civet cats are abundant in Vietnam’s Nam Truong Son, the southern range of Vietnamese mountains, and the area around Cat Tien National Park.
Due to hunting, wildlife trade, and the shrinking of tropical forests, the number of civet cats is also decreasing. They have been included in the Red Book, with a high risk of extinction.
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