Luwak coffee (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, is one of the world's most expensive and low-production varieties of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.[1] A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach,proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness.[citation needed] This coffee was widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world with prices reaching $160 per pound[2] since the Uchunari grade 0 coffee has been introduced on the international coffee market.
luwak coffee is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the IndonesianArchipelago. It is also produced in the Philippines (where the product is called motit coffee in the Cordillera, kape alamid in Tagalog areas) and also produced in East Timor (where it is called kafé-laku). Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cà phê Chồn, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced. However, Vietnam has 2 farms with 300 wild civets in Dak Lak. The farmers collect the coffee seeds and produce only 300 kg of authentic vietnamese chon coffee. The civets live in the wild and are fed beef. The processed civet beans are imported to the UK to the farmers' sole UK supplier.
The origin of Luwak coffee is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop coffee plantations in their colony in the Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830—1870), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers from picking coffee fruits for their own use. Still, the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian Palm Civet) consumed the coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage.[3] The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon become their favourite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even in colonial times.
Luwak coffee is a name for many specific cultivars and blends of arabica, robusta, liberica, excelsa or other beans eaten by civets, hence the taste can vary greatly. Nonetheless, luwak coffee have a shared aroma profile and flavor characteristics, along with their lack of bitterness.
Luwak coffee has a thick texture, and tastes vary depending on roasting levels. Usually, levels range from cinnamon color to medium, with little or no carmelization of sugars within the beans as happens with heavy roasting. Moreover, kopi luwaks which have very smooth profiles are most often given a lighter roast, though at first taste it can seem a bit strong in flavor. Iced luwak coffee brews may bring out some flavors not found in other coffees. Other berries eaten by civets can give luwak coffee a pungent, sometimes bitter taste, though it varies depending on the diet of the civet.
Sumatra is the world's largest regional producer of Luwak coffee. Sumatran civet coffee beans are mostly an early arabica variety cultivated in the Indonesian archipelago since the seventeenth century. The major Sumatran kopi luwak production area is in Lampung, Bengkulu andAceh especially the Gayo region, Takengon. Tagalog cafe alamid (or alamid cafe) comes from civets fed on a mixture of coffee beans and is sold in the Batangas region along with gift shops near airports in the Philippines.
Coffe is the Indonesian word for coffee. Luwak is a local name of the Asian Palm Civet in Sumatra. Palm civets are primarily frugivorous, feeding on berries and pulpy fruits such as figs and palms. Civets also eat small vertebrates, insects, ripe fruits and seeds.[4]
Early production began when beans were gathered in the wild from where a civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory. On farms, civets are either caged or allowed to roam within defined boundaries.[1]
Coffee cherries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet's digestive tract the beans are then defecated in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry's inner layers. They are gathered, thoroughly washed, sun dried and given only a light roast so as to keep the many intertwined flavors and lack of bitterness yielded inside the civet.
Several studies have examined the process in which the animal's stomach acids and enzymes digest the beans' covering and ferment the beans.[5][6][7] Research by food scientist Massimo Marcone at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada showed that the civet's endogenous digestive secretions seep into the beans. These secretions carry proteolytic enzymes which break down the beans' proteins, yielding shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Since the flavor of coffee owes much to its proteins, there is a hypothesis that this shift in the numbers and kinds of proteins in beans after being swallowed by civets brings forth their unique flavor. The proteins are also involved in non-enzymatic Maillard browning reactions brought about later by roasting. Moreover, while inside a civet the beans begin to germinate by malting which also lowers their bitterness.[8][9]
At the outset of his research Marcone doubted the safety of kopi luwak. However, he found that after the thorough washing, levels of harmful organisms were insignificant. Roasting at high temperature has been cited as making the beans safer after washing.[by whom?][citation needed]
Research into the palm civet's digestive processes and the transformation of the beans' proteins has led to the discovery of innovative ways to imitate the taste of kopi luwak without the civet's involvement. It is in response to the decrease in civet population, caused by hunting it for meat.[10][improper synthesis?] Kopi luwak production involves a great deal of labor, whether farmed or wild-gathered. The small production quantity and the labor involved in production contribute to the coffee's high cost.[11] The high price of kopi luwak is another factor that drives the search for a way to produce kopi luwak in large quantities, lowering the cost.
The University of Florida has developed a way to recreate how nature produces Kopi Luwak without the involvement of any animals. This technology has been licensed to a Gainesville Florida firm, Coffee Primero, which now produces and distributes that product at a price competitive with ordinary quality coffees.[7][12]
The Trung Nguyên Coffee Company in Vietnam, through its work in isolating the civet's digestive enzymes, has patented its own synthetic enzyme soak, which is used in its Legendee brand simulated kopi luwak coffee.
Luwak coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between US$100 and $600 per pound.[1] The specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, which is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets, is sold at $6600 per kilogram ($3000 per pound).[13] Most customers are in Asia – especially Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.[14] Sources vary widely as to annual worldwide production.[15]
In November 2006 Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms, a small cafe in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland, Australia, put kopi luwak coffee on its menu at A$50.00 (US $35.00 PPP) a cup, selling about seven cups a week, which gained nationwide Australian and international press.[16] In April 2008 the brasserie at Peter Jones department store in London's Sloane Square began selling a blend of kopi luwak and Blue Mountain called Caffe Raro for £50 (US $79.00) a cup.[17] Peck in downtownMilan sells a small espresso cup for 15 euros.
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