Luwak Coffee

Kopi Luwak (pronounced [ˈkopi 'luak]) or Civet coffee is coffee made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets. The civets eat the berries, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested. This process takes place on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Philippines (where the product is called Motit Coffee in the Cordillera, or Kape Alamid in Tagalog areas) and in East Timor (locally called kafé-laku). Local lore in Vietnam has given the name "weasel coffee" to civet coffee, in what is considered the closest recognizable translation to English.


Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee, and luwak is a local name of the Asian Palm Civet.

The common palm civet is normally found in Ceylon, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, India and Pakistan, Myanmar (Burma), and Southern China, south to Sumatra and Java, east to the Philippines, Borneo, Celebes and the Lesser Sunda Island. In Malaysia, the common palm civets are wild-spread on the mainland, in Langkawi, Pulau Pinang, and Pulau Tioman. Palm civets are primarily frugivorous, feeding on berries and pulpy fruits, including those of Ficus trees and plams. They also eat small vertebrates, insects, ripe fruits and seeds.[1]. In the Philippines a second species of palm civet, the endangered Paradoxorus philippinensis occurs; this species is currently aided and protected by the cultivation of civet coffee.
Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)

Civets are often casually referred to as "cats" or "weasels" (Vietnam typically) but they are not in the cat or weasel family, but in the family Viverridae, along with the similar genets and linsangs.

Civets consume the red coffee cherries, when available, containing the fruit and seed, and they tend to pick the ripest and sweetest fruit. Thus there is a natural selection for the ripest coffee beans. The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but a unique combination of enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are defecated, still covered in some inner layers of the berry. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process. Light roasting is considered particularly desirable in coffees that do not exhibit bitterness, and the most pronounced characteristic of Kopi Luwak is a marked reduction in bitterness.

In early days, the beans would be collected in the wild from a "latrine," or a specific place where the civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory, and these latrines would be a predictable place for local gatherers to find the beans. More commonly today, civet farms allow civets to roam within defined boundaries, and the feces produced are then processed and the coffee beans offered for sale.

Many consumers question whether civet coffee is safe and sanitary, and whether it contains E. coli bacteria. The civet is not known as a carrier of E. coli or other bacteria potentially dangerous to humans, and there is no public record of any illness conveyed by civet coffee. It is professed by producers that the enzymes in the digestive tract, as well as the rigorous washing and sun drying of the beans, help to eliminate bacteria, along with the high temperature roasting process, and that the coffee is entirely safe.
Kopi Luwak was the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $100 and $600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and the United States by weight, and served in coffeehouses in Southeast Asia by the cup. It is increasingly becoming available elsewhere, though supplies are limited; only 1,000 pounds (450 kg) at most make it into the world market each year.

Examples of selling by the cup:

One small cafe, the Heritage Tea Rooms, in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland, Australia, has Kopi Luwak coffee on the menu at A$50.00 (=US$33.00) per cup, selling approximately seven cups a week, which has gained nationwide Australian and international press, creating over $5 Million AUD of media attention for this rare coffee.[3] In April 2008, the brasserie of Peter Jones department store in London's Sloane Square started selling a blend of Kopi Luwak peanut and Blue Mountain called Caffe Raro for £50 (=US$99.00) a cup.[4] It has also recently become available at Selfridges, London, as part of their "Edible" range of exotic foods and beverages. The coffee may also be bought by the cup or as beans at The Funnel Mill in Santa Monica, California. It is also available in Toronto, Canada.

Examples of export by weight:

Sumatra is the world's largest regional producer. Sumatran civet coffees are mostly Arabica. The Arabica Typica variety is an early type cultivated in the Indonesian archipelago since the seventeenth century, and this variety often forms the basis of the civet’s diet. Some producers, for example IndoCivetCoffee, offer mixed Robusta and Arabica blends, or 100% Arabica unique to the others. Paradise Coffee is one producer that offers several coffees produced by different species of beans. Indonesian civet coffees are often found throughout Southeast Asia and have some outlets in the USA.[6].

The endangered Philippine civet (Paradoxorus philippinensis) often dines on a endangered coffee species, Coffea liberica[7]. Government and private foundations have sought to preserve the Liberica species through initiatives in the Batangas region to encourage more Liberica production, so the cultivation of civet coffee has had benefits for the civet population and the recultivation of Liberica coffee.

Cafe Alamid or Alamid Cafe (Tagalog, trans: Civet Coffee) is typically fed on a mixture of coffee species and varieties including Arabica, Liberica and Excelsa. This produces a different flavor profile from many other civet coffees, but the typical characteristics of low acidity, smoothness and high aroma are present. Cafe Alamid can be found in the Batangas region and often at gift shops near airports in the Philippines.

Civets found throughout other regions in Southeast Asia are often used in Kopi Luwak production but most suppliers are small and serve local markets. Civet coffee is a popular drink in coffeehouses in Vietnam, and several prominent coffee producers such as Trung Nguyen produce simulated civet coffee. Trung Nguyen uses a patented process arrived at through research by German scientists hired to find an enzyme soak equivalent to the natural civet processing. The company produces a coffee called Legendee which is the best-known civet simulation in that region and is a popular drink at the company’s coffee houses. This outlet is a common introduction to the concept of Kopi Luwak coffee for tourists in Southeast Asia.

Many other simulations do not rely on an enzyme soak but choose beans of exceptional quality and added flavorings to attempt to duplicate the typical flavor profile of Kopi Luwak
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