Kopi luwak is the world’s most expensive coffee.
The main factor of it’s high price is the uncommon method of producing such a coffee.
It has been produced from the coffee beans which have been digested
by a certain Indonesian cat-like animal called then palm civet or also civet cat.
This is the reason kopi luwak is also called cat poop coffee or civet cat coffee.
The feces of this cat will be collected, finished and sold as kopi luwak.
Why is Kopi Luwak so special and the most expensive coffee?
The most important reason of the coffee’s speciality is the production process.
The coffee tree
The coffee tree, Coffea, is a flowering evergreen plant native to tropical Africa and Asia.
The coffee tree usually catches someone’s eye due to its attractive white flowers.
Moreover, the coffee tree produces red or purple cherries that are, despite their misleading name, berries.
In most cases, the coffee berries contain two seeds. These seeds are the so-called coffee beans.
The coffee beans
The seeds of the coffee tree are called coffee beans.
However, the word bean is used incorrectly in everyday speech because of their resemblance to beans.
They are found inside of the coffee cherries.
Most of the time cherries contain two seeds or beans.
Coffee beans are the source for coffee.
The digestion
Palm civet cats adore coffee cherries.
Civet cats living in the wild select the ripest coffee cherries with the highest quality.
But how can the digestion process affect the coffee beans and dramatically improve their flavor?
The flesh of the coffee cherries is removed during the digestive process.
The coffee seeds or beans inside the cherries are not digested by the civet cats.
It is believed that this digestive oversight is responsible for giving civet coffee its special and unique flavor.
Scientists have undertaken research about kopi luwak coffee.
What they found is natural enzymes in the civet’s intestines
make the beans less acidic and therefore less bitter.
The palm civet
The civet cat is a small mammal which belongs to the Viverridae family.
In Indonesia these animals are known as Luwaks.
Palm civet cats have a body length of about 53 cm (21 inches) and weigh between 2 to 5 kg (4.4 to 11.0 lb).
Their appearance resembles a cat at first sight,
but their legs are much shorter and its tail is much longer compared to an ordinary cat.
Why is this animal so famous?
This little animal is most famous due to it’s particular affection for coffee berries.
As mentioned previously, palm civet cats living in the wild love eating delicious coffee beans.
Usually, they collect just the tastiest beans for their diet.
The feces
After about 24 to 36 hours the coffee beans eaten by the palm civet cat are defecated.
In most parts of the world excrement from wild animals is considered waste.
But in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines civet cat feces are seen as gold.
This is because the coffee beans departed the civet’s digestive tract almost unaffected.
According to scientists, this adds to the special flavor of the coffee made from civet cat beans.
Today, these coffee beans are a luxury good and sold all over the globe.
It is better known as kopi luwak or civet coffee.
Due to its rarity, cat feces coffee is also the world’s most expensive coffee.
The finishing
Wild kopi luwak is collected from local farmers in Indonesia or the Philippines.
They separate the coffee beans from the feces, wash them and then dry them in the sun.
Once the beans are dry enough to remove the outer skin or parchment easily,
they are put into a wooden mortar and pounded with a pestle.
The beans are not affected by the pounding, but the skin will break apart,
making it possible to easily remove the coffee beans.
In the next step, the beans are hand-sorted to remove any damaged beans.
Now the remaining kopi luwak beans are ready for roasting.
Raw Kopi Luwak loses much weight during the different stages of this process.
10 kilograms, or 22 lbs, of raw kopi luwak will not yield more than 2 kgs, or 4.4 lbs, of roasted kopi luwak beans.
