Comments on: Roasting Coffee, Phnom Penh-style

By: Webbed Feet, Web Log » Blog Archive » Anthropomorphic Cannibalism in Cambodia

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:04:28 +0000

[...] Remember kids, there’s meat, and then there’s HAM. Cambodia is not the easiest place to keep kosher or halal. It seems like there is no Khmer dish that can’t be improved without a little pork – even coffee. [...]

By: BA

BA — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:29:19 +0000

if you want really good coffee in sumatra. sidikalang where its grown and the small villages in west aceh where they cook the beans in a wok. the smell drifts over the beach. its delicious. sometimes the coffee is cut with a little corn. another reason it may taste a little weak.

i lived in phnom penh in 2000 and had a coffee plunger. i remember the cambodian beans never looked good and I mostly bought Laotian. a shop near central market ground them fresh for me.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:33:30 +0000

The Japanese roasters are http://ratanakiri-coffee.com/ – they export the beans to Japan for roasting.

By: john mccollum

john mccollum — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 01:46:06 +0000

Oh. I didn’t mention that my trip to Ratanakiri was aborted due to an unexpected illness of one of my travelmates. Next time.

By: john mccollum

john mccollum — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 01:43:58 +0000

Oy.

I’m currently in Cambodia, hot on the coffee trail. I had planned a trip to Ratanakiri to visit the coffee plantations. Rumor has it, they grow a little Arabica, some of which is being exported in small quantities to Japan, of all places.

Most of the ‘local’ coffee I’ve tasted has been pretty bad. Bad beans, bad roasting. I’m more than half serious about starting a coffee roastery here in Phnom Penh and selling to all of the Western-oriented cafes.

Pork fat. Wow.

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 04:08:12 +0000

Your coffee questions will be answered on Monday. No sooner.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 03:59:11 +0000

But the key question: is the coffee any good?

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:48:23 +0000

A few years ago, while wandering around Kratie, we found coffee roasters by the roadside. I don’t know about pig fat, but you can see a photo here http://www.onasia.com/system/preview.aspx?pvp=jre0110820.68.

Our favorite local coffee hangout in Phnom Penh (run by a family from Kampuchea Krom) does the sock trick. The 20-something son used to do a brilliant little dance every time he served a cup. But now he’s working as a repairman at a shop up the street. No more coffee dance, but damn good coffee nonetheless.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:10:16 +0000

Simon – I’ll do a follow up post on drinking the same coffee. All will be answered.

Melissa – It depends where you go as to whether you get Nescafe or not. Most roadside cafes brew from scratch, but quite a few of the more backpackery restaurants serve Nescafe.

The sock method of brewing is most prevalent but generally the coffee is served with little flair. As for varieties, the coffee planted tends to be robusta, but I’ve seen an intriguing reference to “Cambodian robusta ( a hybrid originally from Africa called Catimor)”(?) at http://www.stanford-jc.or.jp/research/column/fromkyoto/2003/09.html

By: Robyn

Robyn — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:58:35 +0000

Pig fat on the beans – brilliant! (but problematical if you are a coffee-loving Jew or Muslim).
Simon – the sock method of brewing coffee is common to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. We’ve travelled a bit on Sumatra and found – like you – that the coffee is often curiously weak. Depends a bit on the pondok kopi you’ve wandered into. You can ask for it ‘dark’ as well.