Poop coffee? Kopi Luwak takes extreme foodism it to a new level. Civet coffee is the latest java rage, with prices reaching $75 per cup or $300 to $1,000 per pound. Connoisseurs who pride themselves on being coffee snobs need to overcome the fact that the beans are harvested from the feces of this cat-like creature native to Indonesia and Malaysia.
The World's Most Expensive Coffee Comes from Excrement - Kopi Luwak
Known by a number of euphemisms, from the more elegant Malaysian term "Kopi Luwak" to the less refined "cat %$#@ coffee," civet coffee is made by harvesting green coffee beans eaten by the cat-like animals. The Asian Palm Civet, native to portions of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, picks the red coffee cherries from bushes and eats the berries. The soft flesh that encases the green coffee cherry inside is digested as it makes its way through the civet's GI tract.
Discarded as waste, the green coffee bean experiences a marination in the enzymes found in the civet's system. Researchers at Canada's University of Guelph released a study in 2004 that showed specific enzymes in the Asian Palm Civet's digestive tract change the bean's structure.
In a university press release, lead researcher Massimo Marcone of the university's Department of Food Science notes that, “The civet beans are lower in total protein, indicating that during digestion, proteins are being broken down and are also leached out of the bean. Since proteins are what make coffee bitter during the roasting process, the lower levels of proteins decrease the bitterness of Kopi Luwak coffee.”
Wild vs. Caged, Real vs. Fake - Civet Coffee Production
Some coffee producers in southeast Asia claim that beans harvested from wild civets are the purest form of the coffee - and the most expensive, reaching $600 to $1,000 per pound for a wild pound - while caged animals may be forcefed in order to produce more feces from which berries can be rinsed and sold.
Known as "weasel coffee" in South Korea and "squirrel coffee" in some interesting English translations of "civet," those who produce and sell the high-demand product through cage operations dispute criticism that caged animals experience stress and therefore produce an inferior civet coffee bean, claiming that the domesticated animals only eat half the berries offered, displaying a refined sense of quality.
So What Does Civet Coffee Taste Like?
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it simply strengthened my desire to try this luxury item that seemed more urban legend than urbane coffee trend. No coffee shop in my area outside of Boston sells Kopi Luwak. I had to rely on the Internet to order a quarter pound at a cost of $75 with shipping.
Consider it a bargain; coffee shops in New Zealand and New York sell "cat poo coffee" for $30 to $75 per eight-ounce cup. I cleaned my grinder and coffee maker and brewed two cups with distilled water.
From pure Kona to Jamaica Blue Mountain, my husband and I have tried a range of high-end coffees. This batch was certified civet coffee from a reputable harvester, so no counterfeiting. What we drank was pure, well, rinsed beans that once tickled an Asian Palm Civet's duodenum down to its anus.
And, frankly, we both muttered "This coffee tastes like %$@#."
Resources:
"New Research Explains Structure, Taste of Kopi Luwak Coffee," University of Guelph, accessed February 17, 2011.
"From Dung to Coffee Brew with No Aftertaste," Norimitsu Onishi, The New York Times, April 17, 2010. Accessed February 17, 2011.
Melanie Zoltan - Melanie Zoltan is a former college professor and administrator who has written for About.com, PCWorld, Brain Child, Thomson Gale, and ...
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