Civet Coffee Typical & Exotic

Kopi luwak (Malay pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, is one of the world's most expensive and low-production varieties of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world with prices reaching $160 per pound.

Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, and also in the Philippines (where the product is called motit coffee in the Cordillera and kape alamid in Tagalog areas) and also in East Timor (where it is called kafé-laku). Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its name cà phê Chồn in Vietnam, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced. However, 2 farms have 300 civets in the wild in Dak Lak, the farmers collect the coffee seeds, they produce 300kg only of authentic vietnamese chon cofffee. The civets live in the wild and are fed beef. The processed civet beans are processed and imported to the UK to the farmers' sole UK supplier.
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History
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 plantations in their colony in Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830—1870), or roughly, colonization, as Europeans saw others nation as lower-degreed than themselves, wanting to rob natural resources by keeping the natives low-lived, the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers to pick coffee fruits for their own use. Yet 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 these coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these Luwak's dropping coffee seeds; cleaned, roasted and ground it to make their own coffee beverage.[3] The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon become their favourite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even in colonial times.
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Cultivars, blends, and tastes
Kopi luwak is a name for many specific cultivars and blends of arabica, robusta, liberica, excelsa or other beans eaten by civets, hence the taste can vary greatly. Nonetheless, kopi luwak coffees have a shared aroma profile and flavor characteristics, along with their lack of bitterness.

Kopi Luwak has a thick texture and tastes vary depending on roasting levels. Usually, levels range only from cinnamon color to medium, with little or no caramelization of sugars within the beans as happens with heavy roasting. Moreover, kopi luwaks which have very smooth profiles are most often given a lighter roast, however at first tastes, it can seem a bit strong in flavor. Iced kopi luwak brews may bring out some flavors not found in other coffees. Berries eaten by Civets give Kopi Luwak a pungent, sometimes bitter taste, though vary depending on the diet of the Civet.

Sumatra is the world's largest regional producer of kopi luwak. Sumatran civet coffee beans are mostly an early arabica variety cultivated in the Indonesian archipelago since the seventeenth century. The major Sumatran kopi luwak production area is in Lampung, Bengkulu and Aceh especially the Gayo region, Takengon. Tagalog cafe alamid (or alamid cafe) comes from civets fed on a mixture of coffee beans and is sold in the Batangas region along with gift shops near airports in the Philippines.

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