Kopi Luwak
The traditional method of collecting feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cage systems are force fed the coffee beans. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets due to "horrific conditions" including isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate. A 2013 BBC investigation of intensive civet farming in Sumatra found conditions of animal cruelty. Intensive farming is also criticised by traditional farmers because the civets don't select what they eat, so the beans are of poor quality compared to beans collected from the wild. According to an officer from the TRAFFIC conservation programme, the trade in civets to make kopi luwak may constitute a significant threat to wild civet populations.
Some in the coffee industry regard kopi luwak as a gimmick or novelty item. The Specialty Coffee Association of America states that there is a "general consensus within the industry... it just tastes bad". SCAA claims that almost all kopi luwak available for sale is counterfeit, as 50 times more kopi luwak is sold than produced.
Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called the most expensive coffee in the world with retail prices reaching €550 / US$700 per kilogram. The price paid to collectors in the Philippines is closer to US$20 per kilogram. The price of farmed kopi luwak in large Indonesian supermarkets is from US$100 per kilogram (five times the price of a high quality local arabica coffee). Genuine kopi luwak from wild civets is difficult to purchase in Indonesia and proving it isn't fake is very difficult - there is little enforcement regarding use of the name "kopi luwak", and there's even a local cheap coffee brand named "Luwak", which costs under $3 per kilogram but is occasionally sold online under the guise of real kopi luwak.
Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago. It is also widely gathered in the forest or produced in the farms in the islands of the Philippines, and in East Timor (where it is called kafx-laku). Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cx phx Chá»"n, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced.
The origin of kopi luwak is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop coffee plantations in their colony in the Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel, the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers from picking coffee fruits for their own use. Still, the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian Palm Civet) consumed the coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage. The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon became their favorite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even in colonial times.
Few objective assessments of taste are available. Kopi luwak is a name for any beans collected from the excrement of civets, hence the taste may vary with the type and origin of beans ingested, processing subsequent to collection, roasting, ageing and brewing. The ability of the civet to select its berries, and other aspects of the civet's diet and health may also influence the processing and hence taste.
Tim Carman, food writer for the Washington Post reviewed kopi luwak available in the US and concluded "It tasted just like...Folgers. Stale. Lifeless. Petrified dinosaur droppings steeped in bathtub water. I couldn't finish it".
Some critics claim more generally that kopi luwak is simply bad coffee, purchased for novelty rather than taste. Massimo Marcone, who performed extensive chemical tests on the beans, was unable to conclude if anything about their properties made them superior for purposes of making coffee. He employed several professional coffee tasters in a blind taste test. While the cuppers were able to distinguish the kopi luwak as distinct from the other samples, they had nothing remarkable to appraise about it other than it was less acidic and had less body, tasting "thin". Marcone remarked "It's not that people are after that distinct flavor. They are after the rarity of the coffee".
Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee. Luwak is a local name of the Asian Palm Civet in Sumatra. Palm civets are primarily frugivorous, feeding on berries and pulpy fruits such as figs and palms. Civets also eat small vertebrates, insects, ripe fruits and seeds.
Early production began when beans were gathered in the wild from where a civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory. On farms, civets are either caged or allowed to roam within defined boundaries.
Coffee berries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet's digestive tract the beans are then defecated in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry's inner layers.
Despite being in contact with faeces and pathogenic organisms, the beans contain negligible amounts of the enteric organisms associated with feces. Moreover, the "cherry" or endocarp surrounding the bean isn't completely digested by the luwak, and after being collected, the farmer performs thorough washing and removes the endocarp.
Vietnam has two farms with 300 wild civets in Dak Lak, while in Mindanao island of the Philippines, has two farms with 200 and 100 (in Cagayan de Oro City) wild civets. But the archipelago of Indonesia where the famous kopi luwak was 1st discovered and produced is leading in supplying the world market for almost three centuries, where many small-scale civet farms are proliferating in the countryside.
According to Dr. Davila Cortes, the altered protein structure degrades the effectivenes of the coffee as a diuretic..
Several commercial processes attempt to replicate the digestive process of the civets without animal involvement.
Researchers with the University of Florida have been issued with a patent for one such process. According to the patent application, sensory tests were conducted and verified a significant reduction in bitterness. This technology was licensed to Coffee Primero.
| Vietnamese companies replicated the digestive process | also claim to have with an enzyme soak. |
Initially, civet coffee beans were picked from wild civet excrement found around coffee plantations. This unusual process contributed to its rarity and subsequently, its high price. More recently, growing numbers of intensive civet "farms" have been established and operated across Southeast Asia, confining tens of thousands of animals to live in battery cages and be force-fed.
The conditions are awful, much like battery chickens", said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of the conservation NGO, TRAFFIC south-east Asia. "The civets are taken from the wild and have to endure horrific conditions. They fight to stay together but they are separated and have to bear a very poor diet in very small cages. There is a high mortality rate and for some species of civet, there's a real conservation risk. It's spiralling out of control. But there's not much public awareness of how it's actually made. People need to be aware that tens of thousands of civets are being kept in these conditions. It would put people off their coffee if they knew"'.
Farmers using caged civets in Takengon, north Sumatra, confirmed to the BBC that they supplied kopi luwak beans to exporters whose produce ends up in Europe and Asia.
Kopi luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between US$100 and $600 per pound in 2010. The specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, which is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets, is sold at $3,000 per kilogram. Most customers are Asian, especially those originating from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Sources vary widely as to annual worldwide production.
| The price paid to closer to US$20 per kilogram. | collectors in the Philippines is - |
Related Sites for Kopi Luwak
- Cluwak - Kopi Luwak Coffee | Best Tasting Coffee Brand | Shop Kopi ... read Kopi Luwak
- Animalcoffee - authentic wild collected kopi luwak from Indonesia read Kopi Luwak
- Real Kopi Luwak - Complete info about this rare gourmet coffee ... read Kopi Luwak
- Kopi Luwak - The Bean Providore read Kopi Luwak
