When i heard that Trung Nguyen opened their outlet at Liang Court, I was excited and was yearning to try out their coffee. I actually had the opportunity to meet one of the family members of this esteemed coffee brand a couple of months back and we talked a lot about coffee in general, how Vietnam is the world's second biggest exporter of coffee and their developments. He actually handed me a pack of Legendee which I have yet to open till today(he did tell me its their most expensive coffee!)
So when i arrived at Liang Court, i was determined to try the "weasel coffee". As i read the menu-i realised that the Legendee sitting in my home is actually their top end "weasel coffee". Basically the Legendee is a unique enzyme-treated coffee that releases flavors often bound in the beans and not released under ordinary processing.
Apparently this special grade of coffee has to do with stories about natives who drank a brew from washed coffee beans that had been partly digested by small furry animals(civet cats). In Indonesia its popularly know as the Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee which is made from these coffee beans. The Vietnamese version is called weasel coffee. In actuality the "weasel" is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet. The "real" weasel coffee is said to be incredibly rich, mellow and chocolatey. The price is also exorbitant. Being scarce in supply, Trung Nguyen then went on to develop a special process of using natural enzymes that duplicate this process and not from the weasel(civet cat). Apparently Trung Nguyen is the pioneer of this process and it produces a coffee unlike any other in the world, with a wide range of rich flavors.
My friend and I had ordered the "Legendee" and when it arrived, we couldn't wait to taste it. It was served Vietnamese drip style with condensed milk. My friend asked for the milk at the side as he wanted to try the real taste of the coffee. After waiting for about 2 minutes for it to drip and sit, we took off the dripware. The portion was like an espresso and well the taste is heavenly. It has a strong nice bitter aftertaste. Almost like there is some chocolaty taste to it. All i can say is its a very nice yet explosive flavor and very different from the espresso or typical Vietnamese coffee. My friend said this is undoubtably the best coffee he ever had in his life and yes he does know his coffee.
The next time I will try it iced. Apparently some people claim that it is the best iced coffee. That I need to verify!
