What Is Civet Coffee, and Where Does Kopi Luwak Come From?

Kopi Luwak, or civet coffee, carries the reputation of the most expensive coffee and the smallest production, and this article explains where it comes from and why it stays controversial. Beans pass through a civet and are internally fermented, which gives the cup a special herbal aroma and a strong body. Front Street Coffee stocks the bean but questions how it is often produced.

Civets live in tropical rainforest, subtropical forest edge and hill grassland below about 2,100 meters, resting in rock caves, earthen holes or tree holes, so the cherries they eat are mostly Robusta from low and medium altitudes. The article argues the problem is not the process itself but farms that cage civets and force-feed cherries regardless of ripeness to raise output, and it closes with brewing parameters and alternative beans.

Kopi Luwak has always been an unavoidable topic in the coffee world—it carries the title of the world's most expensive coffee, yet it is constantly surrounded by controversy. Front Street Coffee stores also carry this bean, but our attitude toward it is rather complicated. This article will discuss the price, flavor characteristics, and the story behind Bali, Indonesia Kopi Luwak, including the living habits of civets and the principle of internal fermentation, as well as why the practice of caged bean collection deserves reflection. At the end, Front Street will also share the brewing parameters and flavor description of Kopi Luwak, and recommend several alternative beans for enthusiasts who like different flavors.

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The topic of Kopi Luwak has always been full of controversy. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also carries Kopi Luwak, but! Front Street believes that the formation process of Kopi Luwak itself is not the problem. What is truly problematic is those who imprison civets and force them to eat only coffee cherries—whether the fruit is ripe or not—solely to increase the production of Kopi Luwak. The cruel practices derived from this no longer belong to the category of coffee we are discussing. In this article, Front Street will talk about Kopi Luwak.

Kopi Luwak Civet coffee Kopi Luwak (also known as cat poop coffee) is believed to be a household coffee name. Everyone knows that the world's most expensive coffee is "Kopi Luwak," and it is also the coffee with the smallest production. Its annual output is limited because the coffee beans are internally fermented, the flavor has a special herbal aroma, and the body is also excellent, so Kopi Luwak has become a darling of the wealthy circle, and its price is also very expensive. Although the price is high, generally speaking, the variety and quality of the beans are ordinary.

Civets mainly inhabit tropical rainforests, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest edge shrublands, and grassy areas in hills and mountains below 2,100 meters above sea level, and choose rock caves, earthen holes, or tree holes as resting sites. These coffee bean varieties are generally dominated by Robusta, because the range of civet activity is at low and medium altitudes, so most coffee varieties are Robusta. High-altitude Arabica Kopi Luwak is rare in production. What does Kopi Luwak taste like? Civets are omnivorous animals. In terms of meat, they prey on small mammals, birds, etc., while plant foods include stems and leaves of Solanaceae plants, seeds of various figs, and fruits such as Microcos paniculata and sour berries. However, civets are not strong at digesting plants, so berries are more like dessert after a meal for them, and the real staple food is still meat. Because of their weak ability to digest plants, and because the broad-leaved forests, shrublands, and agricultural areas of South Asia and Southeast Asia where they live are also suitable for coffee trees to grow, many of the sour berries that civets eat are coffee cherries. They can only digest the peel and pulp, and the core wrapped inside—that is, the coffee bean—will eventually be excreted. Because the civet's habitat is in the low-altitude areas of Indonesia, and the coffee variety is also the very low-quality Robusta bean variety, Kopi Luwak has the earthy and herbal flavors of Robusta beans. Coupled with the special processing method, the coffee has high viscosity and a syrupy mouthfeel, full-bodied and solid. The special processing method of Kopi Luwak—internal fermentation

In the early days, local people picked up the feces of wild civets in the forest and extracted the undigested coffee seeds, then processed them into green beans. Because production was low and the unique internal fermentation method. Later, many merchants spotted the business opportunity and began to capture civets on a large scale for cage farming. Civets, which should eat meat, could only eat coffee cherries. The nutrients in coffee cherries cannot keep civets healthy.

They believe that although the coffee beans are not digested in the civet's digestive tract, the highly corrosive digestive fluid has already corroded their surface. In these digestive fluids, there is a special protease that can break the original protein chains of the coffee beans, decompose the long-chain protein structure into small particles, and form short-chain peptides and amino acids. But in fact, because they have long consumed only coffee cherries, the coffee beans excreted by civets may be excreted only one or two hours after they eat them. Coffee beans staying in the civet's stomach for one or two hours are not enough to produce the series of changes mentioned above. The bean is still the same bean as when it was eaten. Even if the flavor changes, it is only a tiny, tiny change. Front Street's neutral view on Kopi Luwak

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that there is no problem with the formation of Kopi Luwak itself. Through its nose, the civet identifies ripe coffee cherries. Ethiopian red cherries are also harvested from fully ripe coffee, and the two are similar in principle. What is problematic is the people who lock civets up. They force civets to eat only coffee cherries, whether ripe or unripe, solely to increase the production of Kopi Luwak, resulting in these cruel things, and this no longer belongs to the category of coffee we are discussing.

Imagine, if it were true that coffee becomes delicious after passing through the digestive tract, then it would also produce a delicious result if you fed it a large amount of coffee beans regardless of whether they were raw or ripe. That is why there are so many farmed Vietnamese Kopi Luwak, Yunnan Kopi Luwak, and Indonesian Kopi Luwak. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that only coffee beans from ripe coffee cherries will taste good. Therefore, even if Kopi Luwak continues to be produced, it can only be by establishing a large activity area for civets to choose the coffee cherries they consider suitable to eat, while also providing them with other sources of nutrition.

Can the internal processing method of Kopi Luwak be replaced by technology?

The excessive pursuit of this kind of coffee and its extremely high price may lead to the consequence of wild animals being forcibly imprisoned and forced to produce coffee beans. There is no need to harm wild animals for the sake of appetite.

According to online reports, with the development of microbial technology, people are also trying to use more environmentally friendly methods to ferment green coffee beans. For example, some people are committed to developing modern technology and microbial technology to simulate the civet's gastrointestinal tract and process coffee cherries. If the research succeeds, this simulated Kopi Luwak will neither pose a threat to wild animals nor produce high-quality coffee. How does Front Street brew Kopi Luwak?

In order to better express the herbal flavor and full-bodied mouthfeel of Kopi Luwak, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses medium-dark roasting for Kopi Luwak beans. Medium-dark roasted beans generally have a higher dehydration rate, so they are lighter in weight. During brewing, the grounds do not completely sink to the bottom. As soon as water is poured in, it is immediately absorbed. Due to vigorous degassing, 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 spiral. Front Street uses the KONO dripper for brewing, because it can bring out a rounder, fuller body and a more direct flavor expression.

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

Front Street uses staged extraction: use 30 g water for blooming for 30 seconds, pour in a small stream in circles until 125 g for the stage break, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 g and stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Start timing from the beginning of blooming.) Extraction time is 2'00"

Kopi Luwak flavor description: herbal, nuts, dark chocolate, fermented notes.

Considering its scarcity and expensive price, Front Street does not recommend everyone drink Kopi Luwak. Although real Kopi Luwak has a very good flavor, coffee from other producing countries is also excellent. For those who like floral flavors, Front Street Panama Geisha coffee is recommended; this 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 flavor of nuts and caramel, that is, coffee that is neither sour nor bitter, Front Street Brazil coffee beans are recommended. If you still love the solid, full-bodied mouthfeel of Indonesian coffee, it is recommended to buy the highest-grade Front Street Golden Mandheling coffee. After multiple rounds of hand sorting, the defect rate of the coffee beans can be reduced to a minimum, 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.