Kopi luwak, (Indonesian: “civet coffee”) the coffee bean or specialty coffee that is digested by, fermented within, and then excreted by the Asian palm civet—popularly called a luwak in Indonesia but found throughout South and Southeast Asia. The coffee bean produced in that manner was discovered and collected by native farmers in Indonesia during the colonial period of the 19th century, when the Dutch forbade local workers from harvesting their own coffee. Kopi luwak is frequently called the rarest and most-expensive gourmet coffee in the world, with a single pound of it selling for hundreds of U.S. dollars.
Collectors gather the civet excretion, remove the beans, wash them well, and then air-dry them. Once the thin outer skin on the beans is removed, they are sorted and stored for roasting. Fans of kopi luwak think the unusual fermentation process refines the beans’ flavour. The distinct flavour may derive from the animal’s gut and digestive fluids. Gastric juices and enzymes from the civet’s stomach increase the level of citric acid in the beans, resulting in a coffee with a lemony tanginess and a more-delicate aroma.
Not all coffee drinkers agree. Some critics call kopi luwak the worst-tasting coffee in the world and trace the hype surrounding it exclusively to the novelty of its origins and exorbitant price. The expensive trade in that coffee has inspired counterfeiters to pawn off cheap inferior coffee beans as authentic kopi luwak. There are also animal-rights concerns about the trapping and treatment of captive civets and the impact of that luxury market on the civet population worldwide.
Nathan Myhrvold
