In 1996 Trung Nguyen made a serious investment in creating some coffees and coffeehouses that set new world-class standards.
One of their major projects was to hire a team of German scientists to learn why Kopi Luwak (weasel/civet/chon) coffee tastes so incredibly different and good. Trung Nguyen knew they could never service 800 coffeeshops and the mass market with Kopi Luwak, which is a painstaking and slow coffee to process. So they reasoned, why can't we duplicate what the furry little beastie is doing to the coffee beans when they are in his stomach?
The German scientists, being what they are - the world's top coffee scientists in R&D - were successful in isolating six natural enzymes that are responsible for the partial digestion of the bean cellulose structure, bringing the release of flavor elements that were previously unavailable, and also neutralizing any bitterness in the bean.
When TN first applied this process to their coffee, they chose a mix of beans that was popular in the cultivation of Kopi Luwak, a mix of Arabica, Robusta and Excelsa. This bean mix creates a bold profile underlying the smooth and bitter-free nature of the Kopi Luwak process.
However, as time went on and the world embraced more and more an all-Arabica fetish, many Kopi Luwaks were produced by feeding civets 100% Arabica. This creates a Kopi Luwak that has incredible high tones and a wonderful aroma that permeates the room upon opening. Arabica enthusiasts were pleased, but many people felt that the brewed coffee was not bold enough.
Trung Nguyen created the new Legendee Gold in ground format to approximate the taste of 100% Arabica Kopi Luwak. This was fine and wonderful, but they also stopped exporting the original, bolder formula. Since 2007 we have not been able to get the "Classic" Legendee, but recently we were able to buy it from the factory in Vietnam and have it shipped to us here.
So, Classic Legendee is back! At least, in the bean form. We celebrated by hosting our coffee social at our warehouse with Classic Legendee "on tap" and drank ourselves silly and hyper on Legendee.
We hope you share our excitement in the return of this Classic.
