AsiaLIFE

Since then, the region’s coffee has been exported all over the world, but as coffee lovers in Phnom Penh know all too well, a decent cup can be an expensive habit. This is why many choose to brew their own cups of energy, because let’s face it, we need the brown stuff to get through the day.

Fortunately for Penhites, we are just one hop, skip and a tuk tuk ride away from the Sin Veng Yo Coffee Shop. Reminiscent of a century old coffee-merchant shop, Sin Veng houses coffee beans and finely ground blends kept in wooden cabinets and stored in sacks around the back. Difficult to locate amid the Central Market environs, this Cambodian-owned establishment nestles between a jewellers and a phone shop on Street 217. It offers the two most common coffee species in the world – sweet aromatic arabica and stronger, bitter robusta. The beans, as well as a range of sweet and pungent teas are imported from Laos, Vietnam and China, and transported across from Mondulkiri Province.

While the shop’s owners and attendants barely speak English, each cabinet is labelled by the bean, blend, and quality – ranging from 1 to 3. Simply point at the desired bean, and take in the sweet aroma as your next morning’s quick pick-me-up is scooped into a plastic bag and weighed on a small green scale. Prices per kilo vary upon quality and country, but generally range from US$3-$5 for ground coffee. The purchase of roasted beans and full tea leaves range from US$6 for Robusta Cambodia, Robusta Laos, and Gabia Vietnam to US$13 for Arabica Vietnam and US$30 for some pungent dark tea leaves and twigs. An assortment of brand-name commercial roasts, coffee makers, tea sets, thermos mugs, and other complementary additives are also for sale. If you are hoping to find a quiet place to sit and read over a cup, this is not the place – it is a walk in, point and purchase, walk out deal.

Sin Veng Yo Coffee Shop, 3Eo, Street 217, Tel: 023 724 350. Opens 6am to 7pm.