Gourmet coffee

I will try to clarify all about this unique Premium Kopi Luwak coffee. Kopi Luwak coffee strange process makes people talk, but in most cases without true knowledge of its origin and process. As the creator of the brand “Al’s Original Coffees” and “Real Kopi Luwak”, I will invite you to have a look into this website so that you can learn in a pleasant and graphical way all about the famous Kopi Luwak Coffee. From Indonesian language Kopi= Coffee and Luwak= Asian Palm Civet, also called Civet Coffee, Luwak Coffee or “Cat poop coffee”.
What is Kopi Luwak or Luwak Coffee?

It’s a gourmet coffee made from the ripest coffee berries which has been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of this animal (Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus). The civets eat the berries but the beans inside them pass through their system undigested. The Luwak graciously deposits them on the jungle floor where they are eagerly collected by the local coffee farmers. This process takes place only on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Bali in the Indonesian Archipelago. Kopi Luwak Coffee is the most expensive and rare coffee in the world and only 500 to 700 Kg. are produced per year. The beans are washed out and given only a medium/light roast so as not to destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process.
History

In colonial times in Indonesia (1602 – 1945), the Dutchmen don’t allow local farmers to consume the coffee harvested in “their” plantations so, they collect the beans found in the floor (the civet pooh) and finally realize that the coffee made with them taste better than the normal one.
My Personal Challenge

I have never imagined I was going to turn into a coffee expert and particularly an expert on the scarce and expensive Kopi Luwak until one day my sister-in-law, who knows that I live in Bali Island, Indonesia, asked me about a rare coffee, which is only made in Indonesia and is the most expensive coffee in the world. She asked me to find it and send it to her to Spain so she can try it with her husband and friends.

Luwak 5After investigating a bit, I found a coffee store where Kopi Luwak coffee was sold in the quantity of 8 grams –just enough for one cup of coffee- for the incredible amount of 22 US dollars. Therefore, I found out that Kopi Luwak Coffee was really much more expensive than an ordinary coffee.

Along my investigation, I realized that almost nobody knows about Kopi Luwak, even in Indonesia, the country where it is made. All about it called my attention so I started to contact suppliers and stores to buy Kopi Luwak green beans but at a better price. At the same time, I started to look for information on the Net and I started to know more and more about coffee. As a coffee lover, soon I found information about “single origin coffees”. This term makes reference to the type of coffee grown in any area of the world but which has different characteristics from other types of coffee due to different climate conditions, soil, height and sun effects. As an example of single origin coffees, I can mention Jamaica Blue Mountain, which is the second most expensive coffee after Kopi Luwak, Ethiopia, Hawaii, Colombia, Indonesia and Guatemala among others.

The more producers I contacted, the more I realized that around Kopi Luwak industry there is a lot of fraud. Some producers said that they had the most inexpensive Kopi Luwak, others said that they were the only ones who have it or have the purest one. I bought samples of each producer and finally I found out that they were not offering me the real Kopi Luwak. As this coffee is very expensive, many unscrupulous people mix or fake it and the final result is totally different from the original, including the price.

Luwak poohFinally, I reached the conclusion that the only way to have the authentic Kopi Luwak caoffee was first to obtain the raw material from the plantations and second, to process and roast it by myself. After many tests, I could obtain the real Kopi Luwak. The idea was that If I personally check the product along all the steps of production (with Luwak’s permission, of course), I could finally obtain the most genuine Kopi Luwak. Therefore, I bought a digital coffee roaster from the USA and I started to go around the coffee areas and I found a coffee farmers cooperative, which had the original product. After many roasting tests, process by which the coffee beans obtain taste, aroma and body (see coffee glossary), I finally could obtain a delicious and unique gourmet Kopi Luwak coffee. As soon as I could, I gave it to my friends and to several coffee experts on single origin coffees. All of them are fascinated with this unique Premium Kopi Luwak.

From this website, I would like to encourage you to try the Real Kopi Luwak or to learn about both Kopi Luwak and its process.

kopi luwak taste really different and special

The fame of kopi luwak is originated since the 1950s where the coffee plantation was widely opened at that time in the reign of the Dutch East Indies. Luwak was many at that time. Luwak is clever to find a good enough fruits including coffee fruit as food. They can pick the best fruit to eat, and also the best coffee beans. After eating the beans, they discarded those beans along with feces, which were previously fermented in their stomach. According to the fans and connoisseurs of coffee, kopi luwak taste really different and special.

Luwak choose fruit that has an optimum level of maturity based on taste and smell, and eat it with peel outer skin with his mouth, then swallowing the mucus and the beans. Coffee beans that are still wrapped in the hard cuticle (horn skin/parchment) are not destroyed in the digestive system, because luwak digestive system is simple so when luwak release them out with the feces, the coffee beans is still intact wrapped by the horn skin. Coffee beans like this, in the past often hunted by coffee farmers, because it is believed to come from the best coffee beans are naturally fermented.

Traditionally farmers picked up luwak dirt along the Bukit Barisan from Padang to Lampung, and from the Gayo mountains (Aceh) to Bukit Tinggi, as well as at the slope of Mount Ijen in East Java. At these locations there was a coffee plantation where mongooses live.

Kopi Luwak I, along with our CRITICS

I, along with our CRITICS, would like to extend my warmest gratitude and sincerest appreciation to Oprah, Lesia and The Oprah Winfrey Show for including The Coffee Critic in their October 15th, 2003 show and featuring the rare Kopi Luwak coffee.

Everyone connected with The Oprah Winfrey Show was extremely professional, from the first conversation with Susan Schmirl to the last contact with Tom Kilty of M.P. Mountanos, Inc.

We have continually promoted Kopi Luwak, a rare and exotic coffee, which was imported for the first time by Mark P. Mountanos of M.P. Mountanos, Inc. Mark first learned about this coffee in the early 1980's. Stephen Kahl, another coffee importer, read about the Kopi Luwak in an edition of the National Geographic and discussed it with Mark, who then pursued to import it.

"Kopi" is the Indonesian word for coffee and the "Luwak" is the indigenous animal who plays an "active" role in the harvesting of the raw coffee cherries. The Luwak feasts on ripe, red coffee cherries seeking out the sweet taste of the cherry itself, wanting little to do with the parchment of the coffee. Once the Luwak eats the cherry, the parchment covered coffee beans are passed out of the Luwak, with the parchment cover still protecting the green coffee beans.

Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee)

Kopi Luwak owns the title 'the most expensive coffee in the world.' It has a strong aroma, but is described as 'sweet' and 'smooth' by those who've tasted it. A mere 500kg of the beans are harvested per annum, so relatively few consumers can partake, even if they could afford it.

Figures available in 2008 show the beans as retailing at up to £300 a pound (½kg), with select restaurants (such as the Heritage Tea Rooms in Queensland) offering a steaming cup for 50 Australian dollars. If you just want to purchase a thoughtful gift for a loved one1, the Heritage sells these coffee beans in 1kg (2.2lb) and ½kg (1.1lb) bags.

Coffee

Coffee is the hot drink of choice for around half the world's population (the other half drink versions of tea). It's an important drink: many people feel they can't function without it. But most are probably happy with the best roasted version from their local supermarket, and are not dreaming of a mega-bucks caffeine fix. However, suppose you won the lottery or a long-lost uncle remembered you in his will - would you be tempted to fork out for a bag of the most expensive coffee beans in the world?

Before you splash out on the ultimate aromatic beverage, consider whether you'll be able to enjoy it when you learn how it gains its unique flavour.

Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak is roasted, packaged, sold, ground, brewed, then drunk. The most important part of the process, though, is how the coffee beans are - how to put this delicately - harvested. In parts of Indonesia, workers in the coffee industry (you could say they're at the bottom of the pile) have a very important job to do. They have to track down, following their noses no doubt, the rectal excretions of a native nocturnal animal called the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), a mammal the size of a domestic cat. Asian Palm Civets are omnivores which are partial to small rodents (rats, mice and voles), large crunchy insects (cockroaches, locust, stag beetles, etc), fledglings (and bird eggs), and fruit, such as figs, rambutan and mango. They also like the sap from palm flowers, which, when digested, changes chemically (ferments) into an alcoholic liquid - so, yes, civets like to imbibe.

Another foodstuff which they consume is coffee berries. However, as most humans know, what you eat doesn't always agree with you, and you end up losing the undigested stuff, one way or another. The civet devours the coffee berries, but its digestive tract can't quite finish the process, so what's left is excreted as partially digested coffee beans along with a good dollop of civet diarrhoea.

Now that the animal has done its part of the business, along come the Indonesian workers to locate and collect the delicacy. A special scoop isn't needed - fingers can do the job much better; it's less fiddly and certainly quicker. Gathering up the exquisite excreta, which is worth its weight in gold, may be a messy job, but it's definitely worthwhile. All they need to do then is wash off the dung and what's left is pure gold - the coffee beans are ready for roasting.

The author of this Entry has done extensive research among coffee-lovers of her acquaintance, trying to find someone who has tasted this expensive beverage which first passed through the digestive system of an animal - and was willing to be quoted, even anonymously - to no avail. People who have partaken and written about it describe the drink's attributes thus: 'Earthy, musty, syrupy, smooth and rich with jungle and chocolate undertones.' All that remains is to recite part of the plot of a film in which Kopi Luwak plays no small part.

The Bucket List

Be aware: contains spoilers.

The 2007 Hollywood film The Bucket List, starring acting legends Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, is about two men who are both diagnosed with cancer. The über-rich Edward Cole (Nicholson) and cash-poor Carter Chambers (Freeman) first meet when they share a hospital room on the oncology ward. They begin to bond as friends when they receive an identical prognosis about their health at the same time. When Edward offers Carter a cup of his mega-expensive coffee, Carter asks what it is. Edward brags that it's Kopi Luwak, the most exclusive coffee in the world. Carter refuses, saying 'I don't drink that s***.' It isn't until the end of the film when trivia buff Carter enlightens Edward about the process which gives Kopi Luwak coffee its unique flavour and expensive price-tag that the viewing audience remember Carter's comment at the outset and join the two stricken men in laughter.

Who Tried it First?

It must have been a very brave soul who sifted through civet poo, washed and roasted the coffee beans, ground them, then diluted and drank the liquid before deciding it was good enough to market. Either they had divine inspiration or were of a perverse mind. It's more likely, however, that it's one of those cultural stories which pass through each generation, known and accepted by the local population, which probably wonders what all the fuss is about. A tribal chief and his hierarchy possibly passed a motion before revealing the secret to the world. We can only ponder what delicacies remain hidden from view.

1 Of course, if it's a spousal gift it could be grounds for divorce!

The Forbidden Coffee. Kopi Luwak. Don’t Call it Crappuccino

Flame On!

I promise I won’t make any idiotic, ass-inine poo-poo jokes in this article about civet cat crap coffee, better known as kopi luwak. Oopsie-poopsie, I already broke my promise! Poops! I did it again!

You can’t blame me. I mean, c’mon, I recently ingested coffee that was made from beans that came out of a civet cat’s ass. In case you missed that I’ll say it again — I drank coffee made from beans that a civet cat shat. Plus, I’m really immature. Plus, it’s just really fun to crack ca-ca jokes about this coffee all day long. Hey, I have earned this right (if you can call it that). I drank kopi luwak and all I got was this souvenir mug!


Definitely Not Available at Starbucks.

As far as shitty coffee is concerned, I’ve drunk loads of it in my day. I’ve gulped down my fair share of instant coffee with powder creamer and sugar substitute in a Styrofoam cup. Everything about that cup of joe was fake including the drinker — me. I was living in Hollywood at the time and at the height of my shallowness. Those were the daze.

However, some of this shitty coffee I drank out of economic necessity because I was broke. I drank the coffee at my mechanic’s shop because—that’s right—it was free. I wasn’t even there for an oil change. Used 10W40 could’ve been gurgling in that coffee pot for all I knew but I wouldn’t have cared. I had absolutely no standards for my morning mug other than the price tag, that is, no price. And as the old saying goes: Beggars can’t be Venti Caramel Frappuccino drinkers.

But that was then and this is now. Beggars still can’t be fancy coffee drinkers, but if you’re an exotic food writer and don’t mind shitty coffee like me, you might be offered a $65 cup of kopi luwak for free.

What is kopi luwak? It’s the ultimate shitty coffee and the most expensive one to boot. Kopi luwak is a variety of coffee bean that literally is excrement from an Indonesian civet that the locals call a “luwak”. Indonesians call coffee “kopi”. Coffee from this animal is called “kopi luwak”. Simple as shit, right?

Just because I have no standards when it comes to coffee doesn’t mean that the little luwak kitty has none. Quite the opposite, the luwak is a fussy connoisseur of the coffee berry. It only chows down on the sweetest coffee berries it can find, and that sweetness, my friends, is passed on to the end user. I shit you not...but the civet cat will.

What else makes this coffee special beyond the sweet-ass beans is the special “processing” by the “manufacturer” with a unique fermentation process in the animal’s GI tract since the beans can't really be digested, kinda like corn kernals for people sometimes. Weirdly and nicely, my kopi luwak was paired with a small dish of pan-fried and salted peanuts. Peanuts? Dude, where're the doughnuts? But, you know, peanuts were surprisingly effective in bringing out the sweet side of the kopi. Salty and sweet. Yin and yang. I'm starting to get how the genius flows up in this coffee hizzy. Still, I was sniffing around for a maple bar doughnut. How 'bout just a doughnut hole?

As you can imagine, this sort of coffee is extremely rare and therefore ass-tronomically priced—it will lighten your wallet by about $65 per cup or $600 per pound.

There are soooo many questions that went through my head as I sipped on this caffeinated oddity, like: If coffee is considered a form of laxative, then what is kopi luwak considered? Redundant? Or, who was the first person to decide that this beverage was suitable for human consumption? And, how did this inspired decision come about? Was it a “happy” accident? Did his coffee bean fall into its feces like a foul Reese's Peanut Butter Cup fumble? And, finally, am I really going to drink this crap? Well, of course I am, but how’s it going to taste?

Honestly, it was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. Like a mad scientist behind the coffee counter, J.C. Ho, owner and proprietor of Funnel Mill Rare Coffee and Tea, skillfully and precisely brewed this cup of kopi luwak making it rich and dynamic with sweet, bold and earthy tones. No ass aftertaste whatsoever. I even drank this cup of kopi black—like a real man. No cream. No sugar. Black as the hole it came from and I never take my coffee that way. It was extra smooth and quite delicious with a buzz so pure it seemed illicit. Now, I wouldn’t pay $65 a cup for it but I wouldn’t pay $150 a bottle for Dom Pérignon either. And I’d consider both of these beverages very good shit. I’m not a broke ass anymore but I guess I’m still a cheap ass.

Check out the video and the next time you’re at a Starbucks, ask for a tall kopi luwak and watch your barista lose his latté. Word to the turd.

Funnel Mill Rare Coffee and Tea
930 Broadway, Suite A
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Ph: 310.597.4395