There were rumors about a local legend who’s been selling some of the best tasting iced coffee in Phnom Penh’s Russian market for more than 20 years. He’s even got his own facebook page. A few of us went to check it out:
Once we ordered, he began an elaborate brewing process where he filled a fine mesh net with ground coffee, poured hot water through it, and then collected the coffee in a pot. He then repeated the process by taking the resulting coffee and pouring it through a second mesh net containing more freshly ground coffee beans. And then he did it a third time! The entire process took more than 10 minutes. This guy’s not messing around:
Once done, he poured it into a glass of ice, and his “assistant” served it to us. Here’s the end result:
It was delicious, and was quite possibly the best iced coffee I’ve ever had. But it’s only for those who like their coffee strong. I would describe it as an iced Turkish coffee.
Pleasant surprise: once finished, we were given a shot of espresso included in the price of the iced coffee:
Interestingly, there’s even a copy-cat who set up a stand next door with a sign that says, “The Best Iced Coffee in Cambodia.” So sneaky.