Is Cambodian civet coffee really the same as Indonesian kopi luwak?
Cambodia does produce civet coffee, but authenticity depends on whether the beans were actually eaten and excreted by wild or farmed civets rather than blended or flavored. A visit to local workshops shows the full chain: bean selection, digestion and fermentation, washing, hulling, air-drying, and roasting. Most small Cambodian producers sell only domestically and mail orders abroad rather than exporting in bulk.
Indonesian luwak remains the reference point for civet coffee, and retail prices vary widely: about RMB 175 for a 100-gram pack locally, up to USD 1,200 per kilogram in the United States, and roughly GBP 50 per cup in the United Kingdom. Ethical criticism often targets mistreatment by specific operators, not the coffee itself, since civets select and digest cherries naturally.
Kopi Luwak has always been famous for its high price and unique flavor, but the controversy surrounding it has never ceased. Does Cambodia produce authentic civet coffee? As a traditional producing region, which brands in Indonesia are trustworthy? This article visits local workshops in Cambodia to take you through the complete processing chain of civet coffee, from bean selection, digestion and fermentation, to washing, hulling, air-drying and roasting, and compares the price differences of Indonesian kopi luwak in various places. At the same time, we will also clarify common misunderstandings about the ethical controversy surrounding civets, and include Front Street Coffee's purchasing advice to help coffee lovers view this highly talked-about coffee rationally.
Cambodian Civet Coffee Brand Origin Price
After washing is completed, the process moves to air-drying and roasting, followed by storage. The longer it is stored, the darker the color of the coffee beans becomes due to oil release and oxidation. The reporter also tasted coffee beans from different time periods on the spot together with palm sugar, and the flavors were indeed slightly different.
When asked whether her products are exported to China, Mery told the reporter that her products are currently all sold domestically and are not yet exported. However, customers from other countries, including Canada and Japan, still remember the taste after trying it. Although she does not provide export services, she can mail the products. For many coffee lovers, the high price of kopi luwak is enough to deter them. But locally in Indonesia, the price of this coffee is not prohibitively expensive. At this store, a 100-gram pack of instant coffee powder costs about RMB 175.
Some materials show that at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, a cup of coffee made from 12 grams of kopi luwak powder from an Indonesian company sold for 380 yuan, with only 12 cups available per day and demand exceeding supply. In the United States, 1 kilogram of kopi luwak beans can cost as much as USD 1,200, while in the United Kingdom a cup of kopi luwak costs about GBP 50.
There are various claims circulating online about kopi luwak being inhumane, but those who spread them overlook an important fact: this is people's fault, and specifically the fault of malicious people, and has nothing to do with kopi luwak itself. Civets use their natural sense of smell to help people select delicious coffee beans in the jungle, becoming unpaid workers, which is actually a very interesting fact. But some people keep civets in captivity and turn them into merchandise. The two are unrelated things. People who oppose kopi luwak had better first clarify what they are opposing. Are they opposing malicious people? Or opposing cats eating coffee? :)
Inside the workshop, the delegation saw civets. Compared with ordinary cats, they look more like small raccoons, and appear very gentle and cute. The workshop owner Mery told the delegation members that civets generally sleep during the day and are more active at night. Their main foods are plant fruits, insects, and small mammals, but coffee cherries are one of their favorite foods. They select the ripest, sweetest, fullest, and most juicy fruits from the coffee trees. Their sense of smell is very keen, and they eat only high-quality coffee cherries, automatically rejecting the rest.
In fact, what civets love to eat is only the pulp of the coffee cherry. When the coffee cherry passes through the civet's digestive system, only the outer pulp is digested, while the core coffee beans are excreted unchanged. The coffee beans produced after fermentation in the stomach have a distinctive flavor. After the coffee beans are excreted, the formal processing begins. First, they must be washed multiple times to ensure the coffee beans are completely clean. After that, the husk wrapping the outer layer of the coffee beans must be removed.
According to the workshop owner, this hulling process is generally done manually. On one hand, this is because machine processing can easily damage the coffee beans themselves; on the other hand, machine processing can also destroy the coffee beans' original flavor, ultimately affecting the quality and taste of the coffee. The removed husks can also be put to good use and made into pillows. After this step is completed, the beans enter the washing stage again. The shop has a dedicated coffee bean washing machine. Generally, a batch of coffee beans needs to be washed for about 2 hours.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
