Weasel Coffee

After years of boarding school food I have often been heard saying “That tastes like shit!” The synthetic, rubbery creations they managed still haunt me today. Well, who would have thought that many years later I would have to bite my words? Those horrible inventions that found my dinner plate back in those days did not in fact taste like shit. I know this because in a sense I have now tried the real thing through the coffee beans that have passed through a weasel’s digestive system. True story!


In fact it is not as bad as it sounds. The weasels eat the beans which pass through undigested. The local farmers collect the beans which are then washed (twice I hope) and roasted. The end result is apparently a stronger, smoother coffee with a unique taste.
What I would like to know is who actually tries this for the first time. Who looks at a weasel eating and subsequently excreting coffee beans and thinks, "you know what, I might just try that". It is that concept that I find humourous me more than any other.

There are many cafes selling weasel coffee in the old quarter. I decided to stop by today and try it out. The lady said you pick a strenght level between 1 and 8 with one being the strongest and 8 the weakest. I wasn’t really sure what determined the strength of the coffee so went down the line and opted for number four. I had the coffee with ice and a bit of milk (condensed). It was tasty. The coffee's flavour was a little different to the normal Vietnamese coffee I drink but on a whole I enjoyed it. I don’t feel sick yet so mission successful.

The café I went to was at 103 Hang Buom Street. The coffee was 10,000 Dong.

Try it!


Dan dit que dans ses années de pensionnat, il a souvent été ammené à dire, à la cantine "ca a gout de merde" (une expression plus courante en Anglais qu'en Français, certes), mais que cette expression de jeunesse ne veut plus rien dire à présent qu’il a essayé la vraie chose !
Il s’agit de « café belette » : en fait fait avec des grains de cafés qui ont été avalés, digérés et déféqués intacts par une petite belette. Les grains sont ensuite rincés (deux fois on espère) et grillés, et on en fait du café gourmet et trés recherché au Vietnam. La question que pose Dan est la suivante : qui à bien pu commencer ca ? qui s’est dit, un jour, « tiens, je vais donner des grains de café à ma belette, et si elle les cague tout entiers, je vais les griller et goûter ce café là » ? Parce que c’est ca qui le nous fait rire le plus dans toute cette histoire…
Donc Dan s’est rendu dans un des marchands de café belette du vieux quartier aujourd’hui, ou on peut acheter des grains ou goûter le café. La dame lui à demandé si il voulait un café léger ou fort, l’échelle allant de 1 à 8. Prudent, Dan a demandé un « puissance 4 » (hé hé le jeu de mot) et a trouvé ca délicieux ! Prix de l’experience : €0.30
Avis aux amateurs…