The alleged coffee is served in most restaurants in PP & SV that I've eaten at. I've never gotten all amped up on it. If I had, I wouldn't avoid it like the plague. It's easy to ID. It tastes like coffee mixed with greasy butterscotch.

I’m surprised to see coffee being the subject of discussion recently (either that or I’m just dense and don’t read everything, which is very possible). Seems like it's popped up on K440 as well.

Either way I’ll set the score somewhat straight, as I have first hand experience. I was also that poster on K440 (AK87) who had gone out of business, and actually reopened or rather helped my cousin open a shop to sell coffee again in Cambodia.

To make the most sense of what coffee is here, imagine three types.

1. Actual Coffee. Very rarely less than $8-10 kg. Actual beans, what we are all (usually) used to. These are coffee “seeds” as the beans aren’t technically beans, but rather cherry pits.

2. Soy bean - Corn - Coffee blends, the “safe” kind. Rarely less than $4.50-6 kg. Soybean/Corn coffee isn’t exactly bad stuff by itself nor is it illegal. To explain what I mean, just think of what coffee itself is. A seed that is cooked and then brewed with boiled water. Not much different in concept than a soy bean or kernel of corn which are not only seeds, but food as well. I love soy milk and corn flakes, so I have no qualms of eating either one.

Mixing roasted soybeans, corn and coffee together can in fact make some unique flavors, and especially when the addition of many ingredients during the roasting process such as:sugar, cream, caramel, and cocoa beans, it can make some very interesting drinks indeed.

There are many very large coffee companies that not only sell real coffee beans, but also take part in the soybean coffee market because they are fully aware that some people have a sweeter tooth than others, and likewise, some people don’t like the complex bitterness of straight coffee.

Therefore, soy coffee itself is just another drink and can be healthy (well, not healthy like how fizzy pops and sugary drinks are not healthy), but far from being toxic to one’s health in comparison to what’s below.


3. Soy coffee, the dangerous kind. Anywhere from $2-4 kg. Like many unregulated businesses in Cambodia, there are far too many greedy people willing to put other’s health on the line and will dump anything they please into the coffee in order to make it taste “better” and sell better for cheaper.

It hurts me to say this, but I’ve seen people make all kinds of shit by using things such as (and I do not make any of this up as I’ve seen it with my own eyes): soap, msg, sulfuric acid (small amounts), charcoal, street alcohol, artificial sweeteners, dirt and much more I am sure that I haven’t seen because there are fake makers everywhere. I know of one that lives 6 houses away from my cousin, and despite complaints to the police, they’ve done jack shit to stop him. He’s still in business as of today (I saw him).

So any coffee you see in Cambodia is going to be soy coffee and unfortunately, a vast majority of it is going to be the potentially dangerous kind. It doesn’t mean all coffee is dangerous, but rather, it means that coffee is completely unregulated and fully exposed to any kinds of alterations, additions, and “corruptions” that people want to throw in.

So in response to what is actually in coffee? Your best guess is as valid as anyone else's.


There’s a bit too much to write here, but if anyone has further curiosities, feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to answer any questions.

-Akira (AK87)

Street coffee. My how the others live. Poor souls.

All the 'soy coffee' out there must be why ists so difficult to find decaf.

I've found decaf at Lucky Supermarket on Sihanouk before, I forget the brand but I believe it was a French brand.

Decaf is firmly in the 'why bother' category along with NA beer. I was looking for my gf who gets migraines from caffeine a few months back. I was in a mall in Bangkok and they must have had 300 coffees and 3 or 4 were decaf. Crazy expensive too like 1000B/lb.

I personally like the taste of black coffee and like to have a few cups of decaf in the evening instead of tea on occasion. I like the smell too but a caffeine rush at night isn't exactly desirable all the time. NA beer, I like beer a lot but can't drink a lot, so to have something that goes so well with pizza like beer and not get drunk, I enjoy that too.

Duncan wrote:

vladimir wrote:I can get you guys good prices on real, very nice coffee (beans or ground) and coffee machines. Coffee around $15KG, machines from $70 to $22,000 (yes, twenty two thousand dollars)PM for details.

I would be interested in a good quality machine. Can you get me a good price on some plastic drinking cups too.

Hey Duncan, 1000 cups:
cups 12oz $80, lids: (dome) $25 flat $15
cups 16oz $100, lids(dome) $30 flat $15

Let me know what kind of machine you want and I will send you some data