Mar 01, 2009 02:20 AM
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KopiLuwakor 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). The civets eat the berries, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested. This process takes place on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Philippines(where the product is calledKape Alamid) and in East Timor(locally called kafé-laku). Vietnam has a similar type of coffee, called weasel coffee, which is made from coffee berries which have been regurgitated by local weasels. In actuality the "weasel" is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet.
Kopiis the Indonesian word for coffee, and luwakis a local name of the Asian Palm Civet. The raw, red coffee berries are part of its normal diet, along with insects, small mammals, small reptiles, eggs and nestlings of birds, and other fruit. The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it has been proposed that 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. Some sources claim that the beans may be regurgitated instead of defecated.
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, captured civets are fed raw berries, the feces produced are then processed and the coffee beans offered for sale.
Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between$120 and$600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and the United States. 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. One small cafe, the Heritage Tea Rooms, in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland, Australia, has KopiLuwak coffee on the menu at A$50.00(=US$33.00) per cup, selling approximately four cups a week, which has gained nationwide Australian press. In April 2008, the brasserie of Peter Jones department store in London's Sloane Square started selling a blend ofKopi Luwakpeanut and Blue Mountain called Caffe Rarofor £50(=US$99.00) a cup. It has also recently become available at Selfridges, London, as part of their "Edible" range of exotic foods. It is also available in Toronto Canada at Coffeeholic: Handdrip Roastery in the upper Forest Hill village on Eglinton Avenue West.
Now how many of us will want to try this out
