What is civet coffee, and how did human poop coffee appear?

Kopi Luwak is coffee made from beans that civets excrete after eating coffee cherries; the beans are collected, washed, sun-dried, and processed. Limited civet output and strong demand pushed prices up, and that gap led some producers to use other animals' droppings, and even human waste, as raw material.

Indonesia is known for Golden Mandheling, whose wet-hulling process gives nutty and caramel notes with a full, clean body. Kopi Luwak sits at the novelty end of the same market. A blogger who paid a high price to taste human poop coffee vomited on the spot, and the clip drew wide discussion online about the supply chain behind such products.

Indonesia is world-famous for Golden Mandheling, whose wet-hulling process gives it rich nutty and caramel flavors—full-bodied and clean, much loved by coffee enthusiasts. But besides Mandheling, the country also has a pricey novelty coffee—Kopi Luwak, made from coffee beans excreted after digestion by civets. Due to limited production and strong market demand, locals have taken a different path, using the excrement of other animals—and even humans—as raw material to make coffee, giving rise to "human poop coffee." Recently, a blogger spent a hefty sum to buy and taste it, and threw up uncontrollably the moment it hit his lips, sparking heated discussion online. What kind of supply chain and controversies lie behind this special coffee? This article will unveil the ins and outs of human poop coffee.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

When it comes to well-known coffee origins in Asia, Indonesia's Golden Mandheling is one of the flagship representatives. Wet-hulled coffee beans exude a solid nutty and caramel sweetness, with a round, clean mouthfeel—a favorite choice among many coffee lovers. But Indonesia isn't famous only for Golden Mandheling; another coffee that commands a high price on the market is equally renowned—"Kopi Luwak."

What makes Kopi Luwak unique is that it is "handcrafted" by Indonesia's local civets. It is said that people venture deep into the forest to search for and collect civet droppings, then pick out the coffee beans that have not been fully digested from the feces, and after washing, sun-drying, and a series of other processes, this rare and remarkably flavored Kopi Luwak is obtained.

As the saying goes, "Rare things are precious." Precisely because of its scarce production and unique flavor, Kopi Luwak is highly sought after in the coffee consumer market, and its price has risen accordingly. However, the output of Indonesian civets falls far short of market demand. Faced with this huge commercial pie, locals began to think differently—using substances excreted after digestion by other animals to make coffee, and thus was born an upgraded version of Kopi Luwak: human poop coffee.

Not long ago, a blogger on a social platform "shelled out big money" to buy human poop coffee and, encouraged by many netizens, tried it personally. The result—had he not tried it, he wouldn't have known; one try and he almost "had an accident"—the blogger threw up immediately after just one sip. From this, it's easy to infer that the taste of this cup of coffee must be quite bizarre, definitely not something an ordinary person could accept.

Netizens who watched the review video flooded the comments section with complaints: "yue," "Never thought I'd live to see someone brew dried 💩 with hot water and eat it," "Rich people's tastes really are different," "Someone actually bought it."

Some netizens also suspect this was a performance by the blogger to attract attention, and that the so-called human poop coffee was merely "self-directed and self-acted." Admittedly, this courageous blogger's review does smack of riding the hype, but human poop coffee is not entirely an unfounded gimmick.

It is understood that to increase the production of Kopi Luwak, locals in Indonesia keep civets in captivity and feed them coffee cherries, forcing them to "work." Even so, the production of Kopi Luwak still cannot meet market demand. So locals came up with the idea of using the excrement of other animals as raw material to make coffee and selling it as Kopi Luwak. Among these raw materials is human poop coffee made from human feces.

But this kind of special coffee has always faced controversy on hygiene and ethical grounds. Some people in Indonesia itself have questioned the legality of human poop coffee, but due to the local cultural atmosphere and market demand, it still appears on the coffee trading market.

In response, netizens said: Although they can understand the existence of human poop coffee due to local culture, they are still greatly shocked. One can only say the world is full of wonders—to make a little more money, people really dare to sell anything.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source. However, due to the large quantity, some images and texts may not have been credited in time; please forgive us. If the original author has any disputes, they can contact the website for handling. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop." Please indicate the source when reposting. If there is any infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

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