The Origin Story of East Timor Civet Coffee and the Flavor Differences Between East Timor Civet Coffee and East Timor Coffee

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Civet Coffee: A Story of Compassion and Authenticity

Kopi Luwak, also known as civet coffee, uses raw coffee beans from wild Timor varieties of civet coffee beans, imported from Timor-Leste.

Recently, the production process of civet coffee (Kopi Luwak) has been accused of involving cruelty to civets, causing a major earthquake in the coffee market and sparking a boycott movement. However, it turns out there is another authentic civet coffee on the market that does not involve cruelty scandals and can even save the economy of the small nation of Timor-Leste. This was only discovered last year by two Hong Kong residents who were warmly received by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta. It turns out that real civet coffee has compassion and righteousness, with wild civets and poor farmers supporting each other. When Shi Yongli (Sukie) accepted Edwin's invitation to taste that cup of civet coffee, she also heard many touching stories.

The Dark Side of Commercial Civet Coffee

Some civet coffee on the market was previously exposed by PETA Asia for severely abusing animals during production. Coffee farmers confine civets in extremely small cages, constantly forcing them to eat coffee beans to accelerate production of the world's second-most expensive coffee, whose demand continues to rise. However, it turns out there is a distant country where civet coffee still maintains its original simplicity. In that place, wild civets and coffee farmers have had years of mutually damaging struggles, until last year, when two Hong Kong people walked into the mountains of Timor-Leste to visit coffee farmers and discovered that these little civets, who always loved to steal farmers' coffee beans, had been laying "golden eggs" for them all along!

Two Hong Kong Residents Touch Timor-Leste

Edwin Li, the native-born owner of Colour Brown Coffee, and Daniel Groshong, a former war correspondent for Time Magazine and Associated Press who had lived in Hong Kong for 18 years, traveled together to Timor-Leste last year. They went deep into remote mountainous areas with inconvenient transportation to observe the lives of local coffee farmers and unexpectedly discovered that local farmers, to prevent coffee beans from being stolen by civets, harvested coffee beans early before they ripened and turned red, which greatly reduced coffee quality. Furthermore, the farmers had never even heard of civet coffee. Edwin pointed out that unripe coffee beans are of poor quality, while civets specifically steal the most delicious ripe coffee beans, which is precisely the quality guarantee of civet coffee. The coffee farmers had an epiphany. Former Timor-Leste President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate José Ramos-Horta even sent a letter thanking them for their contribution to Timor-Leste. These two compassionate people brought these civet coffee beans collected by farmers in the wild into Color Brown's coffee cups. Edwin said they were willing to lose money, giving all income from the $298 per cup of civet coffee to help local coffee farmers. "The village we visited is rated as the best organic Arabica coffee producing area in Timor-Leste. Daniel has been continuously assisting farmers, teaching coffee knowledge, improving quality, giving them manual coffee depulpers, building sun-drying fields and central warehouses."

Shi Yongli Refuses Civet Cruelty

Shi Yongli is a lover of civet coffee, but she felt very unhappy after hearing about the recent civet abuse scandal. She said: "Forcing civets to eat coffee beans is truly inhumane. They even call themselves organic products. I think this behavior is quite despicable, and people who buy this kind of civet coffee become accomplices! There are still many undiscovered natural resources on Earth. Once discovered, they should be well protected. I fully support Edwin's actions." As Sukie listened to Edwin's story while tasting the civet coffee divided into four small cups, she deeply felt the freedom of wild civets in the remote villages of Timor-Leste and shared those beautiful memories together. At the same time, she also tasted fresh coffee beans hand-grown by Edwin, hoping for some kind of chemical reaction in her body!

Complete Decoding of Civet Coffee

Edwin explained that wild civets feed on ripe coffee fruits. Their digestive systems digest the fruit pulp of the coffee fruit and then excrete the hard coffee beans in their feces. These coffee beans, having been fermented by stomach acids, have some of their proteins broken down, producing more free amino acids. The bitterness of the coffee thus decreases while bringing out unique flavors. Although civet coffee is not in the specialty coffee category, its distinctive flavor has become legendary. In recent years, people have also produced elephant dung coffee and squirrel dung coffee, but these are merely gimmicks!

Civets Also Need a Balanced Diet

Edwin said: "There are three methods of producing civet coffee in Indonesia. One confines civets in places only the size of chicken coops, with no activity space at all, and forces them to eat only coffee beans. Another uses large cages where civets can move freely. There is also a method that lets civets roam freely in vast coffee plantations. However, civets actually need other fruits besides coffee beans. But coffee forests often lack other fruit trees, so civets don't have many fruits to eat. In contrast, well-managed breeding grounds have keepers who regularly feed civets many high-sugar fruits like bananas, apples, and oranges. Therefore, to ensure production of high-quality civet coffee, civets need to receive a balanced diet and ensure they live happily!" For Edwin, Timor-Leste's civet coffee preserves the natural ecosystem while allowing wild civets to obtain rich food resources and maintain a good living environment. Animals, farmers, and drinkers are all winners!

Ecological Journey in Timor-Leste

Daniel Groshong, now settled in Hong Kong and formerly a war correspondent, had long known former Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta during Timor-Leste's independence movement. He later lived in Timor-Leste for a period of time, during which he discovered the area's beautiful ecological resources. He later found that he could help local coffee farmers through fair trade coffee and introducing correct production techniques, so he founded the green social enterprise Hummingfish Foundation. He buys coffee beans directly from farmers, carries them back in his backpack, and has professional coffee tasters carefully evaluate and research them to improve quality.

At the same time, he started ecotourism to prevent various environmental damages caused by overdevelopment. Daniel's Timor-Leste television series was even used by the country as an official diplomatic gift, presented to various heads of state. Every time Daniel returns to Timor-Leste, the respected Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ramos-Horta personally welcomes him. Today, let's appreciate the photos Daniel took for the coffee farmers of Timor-Leste.

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