Vietnam
Brasil is apparently famous as the biggest coffee exporter. But only a few people know that the second position is held by Vietnam. Vietnam has a long history on coffee. When the Dutch was inhumanly forcing its kulturstelsel (never mind the spell — it is never important) in Nusantara (now Indonesia), the French colonist also started their own coffee plantations in Indochina, in the 19th century. Under communist government, however, Vietnamese coffee had been forgotten. Almost.
Since 1990s, when Vietnam redefined its interpretation of communism, they changed the way of development and management. They have been remanaging the coffee plantation, and then reexporting its beans worldwide. Vietnam’s coffee export got almost tripled only in four years, rising from 3,938 of 60 kg bags of coffee exported in 1995 to 11,264 of 60 kg bags in 1999. Almost all is of robusta variety, like here in Indonesia.

Generally, Vietnam’s coffee is valued lower in grade than that of other countries. But they have acknowledged the problem, and started to overcome it. For example, a state plan was issued, mentioning the country’s plan to diversify its robusta-saturated coffee growth and output, growing more arabica in its northern region.
They also started some other plans to attract the attention of premium coffee lovers. One of Vietnam’s domestic offerings, “weasel coffee,” has the potential to appeal to the palates of high-end drinkers the world over. Weasel coffee was originally made from coffee beans that had been eaten and excreted by weasels, enhancing the taste of the beans. In Indonesia, the beans are called “kopi luwak.” A chain of coffee shops in Vietnam specializes in weasel coffee, although these days the beans never see a weasel’s insides, rather going through a synthetic process intended to simulate the effects of a journey through the weasel’s digestive tract. They expect it to be as good as the real thing. While the owner of this chain has contemplated an international expansion of his business, citing possible franchises in Japan and New York City, the chain remains exclusively in Vietnam.
The name Komodo reminds us of an island in southeast Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia; as well as a giant lizard species who only live naturally there. But Komodo Dragon is apparently not a variety of coffee planted on that region. Not so far from Lesser Sunda Islands, we could find a small country, Timor Lorosae, of which coffee is also internationally famous. And, no, this brand is not from that region either. This brand in a blend of Indonesian-only coffee varieties. A blend of my favourite coffee, in short :).
The story began with a small food stall in Jakarta Kota (now named Jalan Hayam Wuruk), that sold local stuff to the neighbourhood. Each day, a woman visited the shop, carried fresh coffee bean in a basket on her head. The shop owner, Liauw Tek Siong, would buy the beans, traditionally roasted the coffee in a small pan, and sold the coffee. The coffee became famous, and Mr Liauw decided to open a new shop in 1878 to sell only coffee under a new brand: Tek Soen Hoo. This shop was then handed to his son, Liauw Tian Djie. This second Liauw stopped using pan, and started mechanizing the process using a roasting drum. Some years later, in 1938, they designed a logo for the coffee: a picture of a lady who originally sold them the coffee beans.
It is just last week that my brother-in-law gave me his coffee maker. So far, I still haven’t used it. I still prefer to prepare my espresso with my Moka Express. See the picture here. It is a Bialetti stove. It has two part: the thorax and the abdoment, separated by two specially designed filters. The abdoment is a water tank. To prepare the coffee, fill the water tank with … water. Coffee grain are put between two filters. Apply an external thermal source (any burner you have at home) boil the water. Say “avara kadavra” to start the black magic. In one minute or so, the fresh black espresso would fill the thorax of the stove, by magic. And the water on the tank would be magically disappear. None ever understand the real process.

Some Howtos in Preparing Your Coffee
Java Estate is a remainder of Arabica coffee plantation in Java Island. Originally, they cultivated only Arabica coffee here in Indonesia. But after a catastrophic epidemic, all the plants cultivated below 1000m were replaced by Liberica, and then replaced again with Robusta variety. Only a very small number of plantations are still cultivating Arabica variety.
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