If you dive deep enough into the world of coffee, you might have heard of kopi luwak, an exotic and costly coffee that has captured many coffee lovers’ interests.
While I love exploring new and delectable coffee as much as the next Joe, I think I’ll pass on this one and you should too.
In this article, I’ll explain in detail what kopi luwak is and what exactly goes on behind the scenes, so you can come to your own conclusion about whether you should give this type of coffee bean a try or not.
Spoiler alert: You shouldn’t. But let me go on to tell you why…
- What Exactly Is Kopi Luwak Coffee?
- History Of Kopi Luwak
- Is Kopi Luwak Only In Indonesia?
- How Are Kopi Luwak Coffee Beans Made?
- How Expensive Is Kopi Luwak Coffee?
- How Much Does A Cup Of Kopi Luwak Cost?
- Why Is Kopi Luwak So Good?
- Is Kopi Luwak Safe To Drink?
- So, What's The Problem With Civet Coffee?
- To Wrap Up
What Exactly Is Kopi Luwak Coffee?
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room.
Kopi luwak is a method of coffee production resulting in a type of coffee most popularly known to be from Indonesia.
So, the coffee beans aren’t born that way.
They are fed to Asian palm civets, also known as civet cats, partially consumed, discharged out of their digestive system, and collected.
A civet is called “luwak” and coffee is called “kopi” in Indonesia. That’s why kopi luwak can also be referred to as civet cat coffee, civet coffee for short, or cat poop coffee for simplicity.
Kopi luwak coffee is mainly produced in Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Sulawesi, all of which are islands popular for great coffee plantations.
History Of Kopi Luwak
The history of kopi luwak dated back to as far as the start of the coffee industry in Indonesia, around the 1700s when the Dutch arrived, imported coffee from Yemen, and set up coffee plantations in the region.
However, the farmers weren’t allowed to drink any. That’s not until around the 19th century when they started to collect the feces of civets consuming fresh cherries from their coffee plantations, process, and brew themselves some coffees.
Little did they know, their little secret about kopi luwak from way back then would one day blew up in the coffee scene in the Western world and become highly sought after with a high price tag attached.
Is Kopi Luwak Only In Indonesia?
But this special type of coffee beans isn’t exclusive to Indonesia either. Many other regions in Southeast Asia also produce kopi luwak but are known by different names.
For example:
In the Philippines, it’s called:
Kape motit in the Cordillera region
Kapé alamíd in the Tagalog areas
Kapé melô or kapé musang in Mindanao
In East Timor, it’s called kafé-laku.
And, in Vietnam, it’s called cà phê chồn, which can be loosely translated to weasel coffee in English.
How Are Kopi Luwak Coffee Beans Made?
From the definition, you should get the gist of how it’s made.
The description below is for the coffee enthusiasts who want to learn more about how exactly kopi luwak coffee beans are processed and end up in your brew.
Though I will only strictly stick with the technical side of it, feel free to skip to the next part if you find these subjects unpleasant.
Coffee Cherries
If you aren’t aware of where coffee comes from, the beans’ origin is from coffee plants that produce coffee cherries.
And inside each coffee cherry, there are usually 2 seeds which are the original forms of the processed beans that you know of.
There are also many types of coffee plants resulting in different types of coffee beans as well. And the one that most dominates the world coffee consumption and is considered to be the most superior type out there is Arabica.
The Indonesians grow Arabica coffee plants in high altitudes on their islands and feed those fresh cherries to the civet cats.
Asian Palm Civet
Asian palm civet is a viverrid that can be found in the temperate and tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. It looks somewhat similar to a possum and a cat, hence the name “civet cat”.
It’s an omnivore that has a diverse diet ranging from small animals such as rats and insects to fruit such as berry. They also have a special soft spot for sweet coffee cherries.
The Arabica cherries enter the digestive system, where they are partially digested and fermented in the gastrointestinal tract of the civet cats.
Think of this as a coffee processing step that’s fundamental to the production of all coffee beans. So, for civet coffee, the civet cats take over part of the process and kick the beans’ quality up a notch.
Processing
The coffee isn’t roasted, brewed, and consumed immediately after, however, for both sanitary and practical reasons.
After the civet cats have gone number 2, their poop which contains coffee beans is collected, handpicked, cleaned, and sun-dried, before making it to the roastery where the special coffee kopi luwak is roasted to order to preserve freshness.
How Expensive Is Kopi Luwak Coffee?
How Much Does A Cup Of Coffee Usually Cost?
Prices can vary widely from one place to another depending on the local economy and, of course, the coffee quality. And that difference may become even larger as you cross the border.
As reported by Yahoo! Finance in early 2021, a cup of coffee in Denmark, ranking fourth among countries that drink the most coffee in the world, costs as much as $6.24 on average.
Back in Indonesia, one of the biggest coffee exporters, a typical cup of kopi here only costs around $4.10.
How Much Does A Cup Of Kopi Luwak Cost?
But the cup of kopi luwak that we discuss today is a lot more expensive than that.
Business Insider found that this “best coffee in the world” also earned its title as the most pricey coffee as well.
In 2018, kopi luwak can already break your bank as prices were ranging from $35 to $100 a cup and around $100 to $600 a pound (0.45 kg). That’s at least 10-20 times more expensive than your average Joe.
However, the price of kopi luwak can be subjected to increase depending on the place of purchase. When buying from Japan and South Korea, you may have to pay double the price you would in the origin country.
Why Is Kopi Luwak So Good?
Though the name and the process don’t sound the most pleasant, kopi luwak has managed to gather quite a crowd going after its unique taste and aroma.
The cherries are first “handpicked” by the civets which tend to eat the ripe and tasty cherries.
Then, in the digestive system of the civets, the digestive enzymes effectively break the protein chains and process the fruit so that coffee beans are released with feces with their silverskin intact.
The partial bean fermentation thanks to the work of the enzymes, bacteria, and the temperature in the digestive system helps improve both the taste and the aroma, giving it the unique flavor of kopi luwak.
Kopi luwak’s flavor is often perceived as being milder than your Arabica coffee with a medium body, interesting earthy tones, and green notes. The effects of the enzymes also help produce a smoother cup as well.
Is Kopi Luwak Safe To Drink?
On the consumers’ side, although how the coffee beans are made and processed doesn’t necessarily sound the most sanitary, kopi luwak is definitely safe to drink.
Many of the foods and drinks we consume out there don’t go through a very Disney fairytale-like production process.
Let me remind you again that some of your favorite cheese, such as Camembert and Brie, are made using molds, in case you forget.
Though kopi luwak did come out of the bottom of the civets at one point, it’s carefully handpicked, washed, and dried before going through the roasting process at a high temperature.
If that’s still not enough for you, consider brewing in hot water the last health safety measure to keep your stomach from squirming.
In fact, kopi luwak even has a lower caffeine content than your average Arabica coffee due to the result of fermentation.
But, is kopi luwak safe to drink for the wild animals in the picture? Does the rich taste of kopi luwak outweigh the not-so-ethical procurement method imposed on the wild civet cats?
The next section will make you think twice about drinking the next cup.
So, What’s The Problem With Civet Coffee?
Considering its intriguing taste, production method, and insane demand, it’s no wonder kopi luwak is so expensive. But that price comes with a price as well.
Animal Abuse
In the past, when the native farmers randomly found out the wild civet cats would eat the cherries and leave the fermented beans behind, they picked the poop after the wild animals eat something out of their own free will, in their natural habitat, near the coffee trees.
But, ever since kopi luwak became highly sought after across the border, getting authentic kopi luwak from wild civets wasn’t a very sustainable business model anymore taking into account how labor-intensive it would be.
So, many farmers decided to opt for another unsustainable model. They capture the wild civets, keep them in teeny-tiny cages, and have them eat coffees to make civet cat coffee, though force-fed is a more accurate description of their animal cruelty behavior.
Most if not all of the civets are captured from the wild rather than being bred for the specific purpose of producing civet coffees.
They’re also kept in artificial cages that compromise many of their welfare aspects, including physical and mental health, mobility, and hygiene, for the sole purpose of bringing profits for the industry that’s exploiting animal products.
They’re also kept in artificial cages that compromise many of their welfare aspects, including physical and mental health, mobility, and hygiene, for the sole purpose of bringing profits for the industry that’s exploiting animal products.
More Abuse
And the abuse doesn’t stop there. New local coffee plantations are now set up not only for civet coffee but also for tourism purposes.
The World Animal Protection organization discovered that many didn’t in fact produce any coffee but served purely as a tourist attraction to demonstrate how the coffee, kopi luwak, is made, mostly to international tourists.
Trick Or Treat?
Another issue is the fact that a certain portion of kopi luwak in the market is actually not authentic. The attractive market price has caught many coffee suppliers by their greed as they produce and sell fake kopi luwak for huge profits.
This often happens at the for-display-only destinations I mentioned earlier. Tourists might think they get a taste of the real kopi luwak made by the poor animals seen in the cages earlier but that may be the farthest from the truth.
To Wrap Up
Regardless of how big of a coffee fan that I am, as a fellow animal lover, it’s heart-breaking to know the most expensive coffee got its title from wild animal abuse.
I hope that helped you get a better insight into the production and supply of kopi luwak and solidify your decision to remove this coffee drink from your bucket list.
No matter how tasty and unique it sounds, the sound of animals in pain shouldn’t be traded because of it.