How is civet coffee made, and why is it among the most expensive beans?

Civet coffee, known as Kopi Luwak, comes from the Sumatra Islands of Indonesia. Local civets eat highly ripe coffee cherries, and the cherries ferment as they pass through the digestive tract, changing the cup into a mellow, rounded, lingering drink. Output is very limited, which is the main reason the beans carry such a high price and such a strong reputation.

Coffee reached Indonesia in the seventeenth century, when Dutch colonists brought saplings and Sumatra's climate proved suited to Arabica. Wild civets raiding ripe cherries during harvest were first seen as a nuisance; Captain Willemsen is credited with noticing the roasted result at a farmhouse. Brewing parameters and roasting suggestions matter, but the article also weighs cheaper alternatives against the price.

Kopi Luwak, commonly known as "cat poop coffee," originates from the Sumatra Islands of Indonesia. With its scarce production and unique in vivo fermentation method, it has long been regarded as a legendary presence in the coffee world. How exactly was it discovered? How does its flavor differ from ordinary Indonesian beans? What parameters should be noted during brewing? This article will systematically sort through its historical origins, variety characteristics, in vivo fermentation principles, Front Street Coffee's brewing demonstration and roasting suggestions, while objectively discussing the controversies behind its high price and offering more rational alternatives, helping coffee enthusiasts gain a comprehensive understanding of this highly talked-about coffee bean.

"Cat poop coffee" comes from the Sumatra Islands of Indonesia, and a long-lasting story has circulated around its rarity and uniqueness.

Sumatra is an important producing area for Arabica coffee, and the local civets prefer to peck at highly ripe coffee cherries. During the process of passing through the civet's digestive tract, the coffee cherries undergo fermentation, which leads to a wonderful transformation, ultimately presenting a mellow, lingering, and rounded layered taste. It is precisely this special method of production, combined with extremely limited output, that has earned Kopi Luwak its precious and outstanding reputation.

How Kopi Luwak Became Famous In the seventeenth century, Dutch colonists first brought coffee saplings to Indonesia. The unique geographical conditions and mild climate of the region allowed the Sumatra Islands to produce outstanding-quality coffee beans. However, a local wild civet habitually fed on ripe, plump coffee cherries. During every harvest season, coffee plantations were often visited and raided by them, which made coffee farmers, already burdened with heavy taxes, very troubled, so they launched large-scale drives and killings against the wild civets.

Until one day, Captain Willemsen was leading his team on duty as usual. Passing by a farmhouse, he smelled the rich aroma of coffee from afar. He walked into the yard and saw the farmer roasting coffee beans in an iron pan. Willemsen, who had originally been very angry because of the poor harvest and fear of being blamed by his superior, was attracted the next second by a cup of black coffee handed to him by the farmer.

As soon as it entered his mouth, Willemsen felt it was incredibly smooth and mellow, and a sweet fragrance he had never experienced before instantly struck his taste buds. When he saw the raw beans the farmer pointed out to him, he was even more dumbfounded—they were actually feces excreted by wild civets! It turned out that local farmers could not afford to drink the coffee harvested from the plantation. They discovered many coffee beans on the ground that had been eaten by wild civets but could not be digested. Feeling it was a pity to throw them away, they collected them, cleaned and processed them, and drank them themselves, calling it "cat poop coffee."

Front Street Coffee Indonesia Kopi Luwak

Region: Indonesia Sumatra Variety: Arabica Processing method: In vivo fermentation by civet Grade: G1

Civets mainly inhabit hills, mountains, and other tropical rainforests and subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest edge shrublands and grassy areas below 2,100 meters above sea level, and prefer rock caves, earthen holes, or tree holes as habitats. The variety of these coffee beans is usually mainly Robusta, because civets' range of activity is concentrated at low to medium altitudes, so most coffee varieties are Robusta. The production of high-altitude Arabica Kopi Luwak is quite rare.

Indonesian low-altitude Robusta coffee itself has an earthy taste and a Chinese herbal medicine taste, and its body is also relatively high. Therefore, this kind of civet coffee presents an earthy, gamey flavor similar to aged beans, with a body almost close to syrup and a very special aroma. If you prefer the earthy, gamey flavor of Indonesian aged beans or Indian monsooned beans, you may fall in love with the flavor of this civet coffee.

The Kopi Luwak introduced by Front Street Coffee is a pure Arabica variety. Local coffee farmers collect the feces, clean them, and classify the varieties. The variety of this Indonesian Kopi Luwak bean is Arabica coffee, and Arabica coffee is higher than Robusta coffee in both flavor and body. Generally, Indonesian Kopi Luwak beans are fermented inside the animal's body, and the flavor carries a special herbal aroma, with excellent body as well, so Kopi Luwak became a darling of the wealthy circle, and its price is also very expensive. Although the price is high, relatively speaking, the quality of the beans is very poor.

In Vivo Fermentation Method

In vivo fermentation by civets uses the lactic acid bacteria and digestive juices in the civet's digestive tract to remove the pulp and the pectin attached to the surface of the raw beans. The raw beans are finally excreted with the feces, and then coffee farmers go up the mountain at dawn to collect the civet excrement and wash out one precious in-vivo-fermented bean after another. People believe that civets choose the ripest, flawless coffee cherries to eat. This is like guaranteeing the quality of the coffee beans.

Civets appear at night and rely on eyesight and smell to specially select the reddest coffee cherries to eat. They are not interested in half-ripe raw beans, so the beans they excrete are all top-grade, with no astringent unripe beans. After these Kopi Luwak beans are cleaned and then roasted, all bacteria have been killed, so there is no problem of fecal contamination.

Coffee beans fermented in vivo are not limited to Kopi Luwak; there are also South American wattled curassow coffee, Indian monkey coffee, and Sri Lankan elephant coffee.

The Kopi Luwak beans of Front Street Coffee are Arabica coffee beans, and the brewed coffee has a smooth mouthfeel with herbal and nutty flavors.

How Should Kopi Luwak Be Brewed?

The Kopi Luwak beans of Front Street Coffee use a medium-dark roast. In order to just bring out the herbal flavor of the coffee, a KONO dripper was used for brewing.

KONO dripper, because the mouthfeel it brings out is more rounded and mellow, and the flavor expression is more direct. However, the KONO dripper has relatively poor exhaust effect, because its ribs are straight and its depth is only one quarter of the dripper. Apart from the area above this one quarter, it forms a sealed state tightly against the cup wall. The KONO dripper was chosen because the only exhaust part of this dripper is in that one-quarter rib area. When the water level passes over the rib area, the water volume in the dripper keeps rising, increasing pressure through the weight of the water. Since the outlet is relatively small, it can extend the contact time between coffee particles and water a little longer. As the water flow drives it, soluble substances can be extracted more effectively, generally achieving the high body effect expected by customers.

In order to better express the herbal flavor and mellow mouthfeel of Kopi Luwak, Front Street Coffee uses a medium-dark roast for roasting Kopi Luwak beans. Medium-dark roasted beans generally have a relatively high dehydration rate, so their weight is relatively light. During brewing, the grounds do not completely sink to the bottom, and as soon as water is poured in, it is immediately absorbed. Because the exhaust is vigorous, there are bubbles around the grounds, thus creating channels. The fresher the beans, the longer these channels are maintained, causing the water level to drop quickly. I generally use a thick stream of water and slowly circle around.

Brewing parameters: water temperature 86-87°C Grind size: white sugar Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 (15 g coffee, 225 ml water)

Brewing demonstration: 1. Pour 30 g of water for the first stage and bloom for 25 seconds. 2. After the bloom ends, pour the second stage of water until the scale reads 125 g. After pouring, wait for the water level to drop to half. 3. When the coffee bed is about to be exposed, pour the third stage of water until the scale reads 225 g. Do not use the last 5 g of extracted coffee. The total time is about 1'50-2'00 seconds.

Flavor description of Kopi Luwak: herbal, nutty, smooth mouthfeel, mellow.

Roasting Suggestions for Front Street Kopi Luwak Beans

Roaster: Yangjia 800N: preheat the drum temperature to 200°C, lower the setting to 160°C for charging, set the damper to 3, adjust the heat to 130, turning point at 1'28'', maintain the heat, at 5'40'' turn yellow, the grassy smell disappears, entering the dehydration stage, raise the heat to 140, open the damper to 4, wrinkles appear on the surface, the toast aroma turns into coffee aroma, which is the prelude to first crack, lower the heat to 100, open the damper to 5, and listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'15'' first crack begins, damper fully open 5. After first crack, development time is 4'25" minutes, dropping at 203°C.

After reading about the brewing, some people may ask why Front Street Coffee would still choose coffee beans made so cruelly?

Front Street Coffee believes that there is nothing wrong with the formation of Kopi Luwak itself. Civets use their noses to identify ripe coffee cherries. Ethiopian red cherries are also harvested when the coffee is fully ripe. The two are similar in approach.

The origin of Kopi Luwak has been exploited as a gimmick, and now most of it comes from civets locked in cages. Those who lock up civets force them to eat only coffee berries, whether ripe or unripe, just to increase the production of Kopi Luwak, thus leading to those cruel things. This no longer belongs to the category of coffee we are discussing.

Considering the scarcity and expensive price, Front Street does not recommend everyone drink Kopi Luwak. Although genuine Kopi Luwak has a very good flavor, coffees from other producing countries are also excellent. For those who like floral flavors, Front Street Panama Geisha coffee is recommended, which is one of the most expensive coffees in the world; for those who like fresh coffee with acidity, Front Street Ethiopia Huakui coffee beans are recommended, with notes like black tea and berries; for those who like a balanced nutty and caramel flavor, that is, coffee that is neither sour nor bitter, Front Street Brazil coffee beans are recommended; if you still love the solid, mellow mouthfeel of Indonesian coffee, it is suggested to buy the highest-grade Front Street Golden Mandheling coffee, which undergoes multiple rounds of hand sorting, reducing the defect rate of the coffee beans to the lowest, thereby making the coffee aroma clearer and the sweet aftertaste better. All the above coffee beans can be purchased and ordered at Front Street stores and the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.