Kopi Luwak

On our trip through part of the island of Bali, we stopped at an agro tourism spot (so it said) and went to see a number of crop plants that are grown in the island. There were cocoa plants, snake fruit trees ( a kind of palm tree with lots of spikes around the stems) and coffee plants. Kind of makes sense since one of the nearby islands is Java, and isn't that what coffee is called??

They had for our tasting pleasure a few different kinds coffee. The plain coffee from the island which was ground very finely. There was also a ginseng coffee, a ginger tea and one more kind of coffee. Now all of these were reasonably good, but for me the highlight of the stop was the opportunity to try the kopi luwak.

For those of you who may not have heard of this before, this coffee is rare and very expensive. It is expensive because of the process. You see.... first, the coffee berries are eaten by civet cats. The inner bean of the berry is not digested. The beans are defecated, still covered in some inner layers of the berry. The beans are then 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.

Unlike the other coffees offered to us that day, this one was not free. For the equivalent of 3 U.S. dollars, it was possible to taste this rare coffee. Surprisingly, I was the only one at our table to want to try it. I would like to tell you that it was an absolutely lovely coffee. It was not bitter and really rich tasting. Apparently the civet processing and the low roasting of the bean creates a coffee with little bitterness. It was delicious- and no hint of poopiness to it!!

Apparently Kopi Luwak is 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. So I imagine then, that I was quite special.

I have pictures of the civet, the coffee cup and the poop if you would like to see?