How to Drink Kopi Luwak - Complete Guide to Civet Coffee Brewing Methods with Illustrations & Bean Characteristics

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Civet Coffee Kopi Luwak, also known as cat poop coffee, is already a household name in the coffee world. Everyone knows that the world's most expensive coffee is "cat poop coffee," which is also the coffee with the smallest production. Its annual production is limited because the coffee beans undergo in-body fermentation, resulting in a special herbal aroma and excellent body. Consequently, civet cat coffee has become a favorite among the wealthy elite, with an incredibly high price tag of several hundred dollars per pound. Indeed, this price is extraordinarily expensive, and for such a substantial sum, you get only a small amount of coffee beans that might be consumed after just a few brews. FrontStreet Coffee will now introduce Indonesia's civet cat coffee.

The Origin of Civet Cat Coffee

Civet cat coffee is produced in Indonesia. In the early 18th century, Dutch colonists established coffee plantations in the Indonesian colonies of Sumatra and Java. To develop commercial trade, they prohibited local people from picking and consuming coffee fruits. However, the Indonesian people worked hard cultivating coffee for the Dutch and wanted to taste it themselves. Since they couldn't secretly pick the fruits, they had to find alternative methods.

After some time, the people working in the coffee plantations discovered that the coffee fruits they cultivated were often stolen by civet cats. However, the seeds inside the coffee fruits (the coffee beans) could not be digested by the civet cats. Therefore, after civet cats ate the coffee fruits, the coffee beans would be excreted completely intact. People then collected the beans excreted by the civet cats, washed and roasted them, and tried the fruits of their labor.

Civet Cat Coffee

Civet cats primarily inhabit tropical rainforests and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests at altitudes below 2100 meters, including hills, mountains, forest edge shrublands, and grasslands, choosing rock caves, soil burrows, or tree holes as their habitat sites. The coffee bean varieties are typically dominated by Robusta, because civet cats operate in low to medium altitude ranges, so most coffee varieties are Robusta. High-altitude Arabica civet cat coffee is rare in production.

Indonesia's low-altitude Robusta coffee varieties originally carry earthy and herbal medicine flavors, with high body and thickness. Therefore, this civet cat coffee has the earthy taste of aged beans with a consistency almost approaching syrup, and a very special aroma. If you prefer the earthy flavors of Indonesian aged coffee or Indian monsooned coffee, you might fall in love with the flavor of civet cat coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's civet cat coffee beans are Arabica varieties, and when brewed, the coffee has a smooth texture with herbal and nutty flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee's Civet Cat Coffee

Region: Indonesia, Aceh
Altitude: 1200m
Variety: Arabica
Processing Method: In-body fermentation

Coffee Varieties and In-body Fermentation Method

The varieties are a mix of Robusta and Arabica. Because civet cats operate in low to medium altitude ranges, most coffee varieties are Robusta. High-altitude Arabica civet cat coffee is rare in production.

Although coffee beans are not digested within the civet cat's digestive tract, the highly corrosive digestive fluids have already corroded their surface. These digestive fluids contain a special protease that can break down the original protein chains of coffee beans, decomposing long-chain structured proteins into small particles, forming short-chain peptides and amino acids.

Indonesia's low-altitude Robusta coffee varieties originally carry earthy and herbal medicine flavors, with high body and thickness. Therefore, this civet cat coffee has the earthy taste of aged beans with a consistency almost approaching syrup, and a very special aroma. If you prefer the earthy flavors of Indonesian aged coffee or Indian monsooned coffee, you might fall in love with the flavor of civet cat coffee.

Definition of short-chain peptides: Short-chain peptides composed of 3-9 amino acid residues are sometimes also called oligopeptides.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations: Civet Cat Coffee

To better express the herbal flavors and rich body of civet cat coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting for civet cat coffee beans. Medium-dark roasted beans generally have higher dehydration rates, making them lighter in weight. During brewing, the grounds don't completely settle at the bottom. Initially, when water is poured, it's immediately absorbed. Due to vigorous degassing, bubbles form around the grounds, creating channels. The fresher the beans, the longer these channels persist, causing the water level to drop quickly. I generally use a coarse water flow and slowly circle around.

The KONO dripper can bring out a more rounded and full-bodied texture, with flavor expression being more direct. However, the KONO dripper has relatively poor degassing effectiveness because its ribs are straight and only extend one-quarter of the dripper's depth. Above this quarter, the surface adheres closely to the cup wall, creating a sealed state. I choose the KONO dripper because this dripper's only degassing area is in those quarter-length ribs. When the water level rises above the rib area, the water volume in the dripper continuously increases, building pressure through the water's weight. Since the outlet is relatively small, it can extend the contact time between coffee particles and water. As the water flow drives this process, it can more effectively extract soluble substances, generally achieving the high body thickness expected by customers.

Brewing Parameters:

Dose: 15 grams
Water Temperature: 86-87°C
Grind Size: BG#6w (56% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve)
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

1. First pour: Pour 30 grams of water and let it bloom for 25 seconds.
2. Second pour: After blooming, pour the second amount of water until the scale reads 125 grams. After pouring, wait for the water level to drop to halfway.
3. Third pour: Just as the coffee bed is about to become exposed, pour the third amount of water until the scale reads 225 grams. The total coffee extraction time should be approximately 1'50"-2'00" seconds.

Civet Cat Coffee Flavor Description: Herbal, nutty, smooth texture, full-bodied.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473