Civet Coffee Facts
Would you be enticed into trying out a cup of coffee whose beans came out with a civet cat’s manure? If you pride yourself on being a coffee connoisseur, then it is likely that your answer to that question is yes. For some however, just the word poop is more than enough to put them off this product. But civet coffee devotees say that you only have to drink it once to be converted.
Civet coffee is one of the world’s rarest and most expensive coffees, and it is made in Southeast Asia and some parts of China. You may know it by another name, such as kopi luwak in Indonesia, and kape alamid in the Philippines. The name civet coffee comes from the fact that the beans are come from the poop of a member of the mongoose family called the civet cat, also known as the Asian Palm Civet. The civet cats eat the best coffee berries, and the beans are partially digested in their stomachs before being excreted whole into the ground. Since the civet cats tend to use the same places to mark with their excrement, the farmers have no trouble finding and gathering these coffee beans. The collected beans go through processing, which involves a thorough washing, sun drying, and roasting. Afterward, they are roasted to perfection.
Typically, civet coffee is an assortment of several coffee varieties, such as Liberica, Exelsa, Robusta and Arabica beans that the animal consumed. According to one study, the enzymes in the civet cat’s digestive tract enhance the flavors of the diverse coffee varieties. Those who have tasted this coffee have described it as smooth, sweet, slightly dark and chocolatey, with a lovely aroma. Unlike other coffees, civet coffee is does not have that bitter aftertaste.
Civet coffee is harvested by hand, and taken from droppings found in the wild, so only about 2000 kilos are roasted annually. There are some accounts of civet cat farms that purposely offer the animals the coffee beans, but allegedly these animals produce less under duress. This means the supply will subsist at a minimum, and guarantee that the price will always be high.
Civet coffee has found a loyal following among coffee lovers in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and other parts of the world. Because it is only produced in limited amounts, and production can be very labor intensive, civet coffee prices can go as expensive as 100 dollars for 100 grams, or about $30 per cup. You can buy both ground or whole roasted beans in specialty cafes, in some Asian markets, or in online stores. However, the greater demand and short supply of this hard to find food item has also led to an increase in fake or adulterated civet coffee beans in the market today, so buyer beware!