KOPI LUWAK

Kopi Luwak is considered one of the finest coffees available. The majority of commercial Indonesian Kopi Luwak (civet coffee) is from Java and Sumatra or Sulawesi, and made from Robusta beans.

Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee, and luwak is a local name of the Asian Palm Civet. Kopi Luwak 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). 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, and in the Philippines (where the product is called Kape Alamid). Vietnam has a similar type of coffee, called weasel coffee, which are coffee berries which have been defecated by local weasels. In actuality the "weasel" is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet, which is related to the cat but belonging to the viverridae family, the same as the mongoose, it has a weasel-like face, cat-like body and long tail with fur which may be either gray or brown with various darker markings.

The Asian Palm civet of Indonesia is a musky grey-toned colour with darker stripes.

Beneath the tail of both sexes is a gland from which a fatty secretion is emitted to mark its territory. This substance is collected to be used as a perfume fixative, main supplies coming
from the Indian civet (v. zibetha).

The omnivorous, tree-climbing civet cat prowls the coffee plantations at night picking and consuming the finest and best ripe coffee cherries. These pass through the civet and are
collected in the droppings. Beans emerge without their fleshy coating, but entire and appear undigested. They are extracted by washing and carefully cleansed before being processed.

It had long been considered as a legend that the civet (Luwak) consumed the best coffee beans which then passed through their gut undigested, even entire with their cherry-like coating, the beans being washed and processed in the normal fashion to make this highly selected top grade coffee. Some thought that the actual situation was that the best beans were selected according to the type civets would eat, and these processed without having actually been eaten by the civet cats.

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 (Pg 23, The Gospel According to Starbucks; Sweet). 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$46.00) per cup, and approximately 4 people a week are up for it, which has gained nationwide Australian press. (taken from Wikipedia web site and other sources)