The Origin and Historical Story of East Timor Civet Coffee Kafe-Laku: Is East Timor Kopi Luwak Worth Drinking?

You may have heard of the extremely expensive "Kopi Luwak," which originally refers to coffee cherries consumed by wild civets. Because the coffee beans cannot be digested, they are excreted along with the civet's feces. Farmers collect and clean these beans to create "Kopi Luwak." Because of its rarity, the price remains exceptionally high.

Kopi Luwak is more commonly found on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi.

In the Philippines, it is known by different regional names such as Motit Coffee and Kape Alamid.

In East Timor, it is locally called Kafe-Laku.

In Vietnam, it is referred to as Weasel Coffee (weasel meaning civet).

From Indonesia comes Kopi Luwak civet coffee (in Indonesian, kopi means coffee and luwak means civet).

In America, it is called civet coffee or cat poo coffee.

When civets eat coffee cherries from the trees and the beans pass through their digestive tract before being excreted, the resulting coffee is called "Kopi Luwak."

FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but a diverse range of bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop services.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Indonesia's reputation in coffee goes well beyond civet coffee, and FrontStreet's Indonesian options show the country's classic styles. The FrontStreet Indonesia Wet-Hulled Mandheling comes from the Toba Lake area of the Lintong region in Sumatra. Mandheling refers to Arabica coffee from Sumatra, processed mainly by the local wet-hulled method, in which the parchment is removed while the beans are still half dry and half wet, leaving the green beans fully exposed to the air; this gives the coffee its signature herbaceous and spicy notes. To present the classic Mandheling profile, FrontStreet roasts it medium-dark, yielding a low-acid, full-bodied cup with caramel, dark chocolate, and toasted bread aromas and a long, sweet finish, ideal for those who like a strong coffee. For a top-tier option, the FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling is produced to a strict defect-sorting standard covering bean density, size, shape, and color; it is sorted once by machine and several times by hand to keep the beans large, uniform, and translucent, and a fresh medium-dark roast offers sandalwood, herb, spice, roasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate notes with a clean, sweet, full body. The FrontStreet Classic Blend, a Mamba-style blend of Mandheling and Brazil, adds a little Robusta and is roasted dark, so its dark chocolate, nut, and caramel aromas come through at full strength and even beginners can achieve an authentic Mandheling flavor in espresso or a Moka pot.