Kopi Luwak
From Free net encyclopedia
Kopi luwak or Civet coffee are coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Common Palm Civet. The animals gorge on the ripe berries, and the undigested beans are excreted. This process takes place on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Philippines (where the product is called Kape Alamid), in the country of Vietnam, and the coffee estates of south India.
Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world selling at $75 USD per quarter pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and United States, but it is increasingly becoming available elsewhere, though supplies are limited.
"Kopi" is the Indonesian word for coffee, and "luwak" is the local name of the palm civet. The raw, red coffee berries are part of its normal diet, along with insects, small mammals, and other fruit. The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it is believed that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are excreted still covered in some inner layers of the cherry, and locals then gather them and sell them to dealers. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors which develop through the whole process. While praised by many for its rich flavor, the beverage is often derided as "cat poop coffee" or, "monkey poo coffee".
A 2004 SARS scare led to thousands of Chinese civets being exterminated [1], [2], but the demand for the coffee was not affected.
External links
- University of Guelph article on the effects of the digestive system on coffee beans
- Report on Guelph research
- The Straight Dope on Kopi Luwak
- USA Today article on civet coffee
- Civet coffee selling well despite SARS
- cbc.ca article on "cat poop coffee"
- The Straight Poop on Kopi Luwak Coffee
- In the Philippines
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