Which Country Produces Kopi Luwak Coffee: Flavor Characteristics and Story of Kopi Luwak Beans

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I don't know when it started, but Kopi Luwak became a favorite among the wealthy circles. According to local people, Kopi Luwak was originally drunk by poor people in the Indonesian region because good coffee beans were all sold. Local people accidentally discovered that coffee beans in the civet cat's excrement were not digested, so they decided to wash and dry them before brewing. This practice was turned into a business opportunity by some people, who sold Kopi Luwak under the model of "rarity is precious," making it a favorite among the wealthy, while many civet cats were also captive-raised for utilization. FrontStreet Coffee has also sourced and stocked Kopi Luwak, and often hears people say that Kopi Luwak is cruel. FrontStreet Coffee believes that what is cruel is not Kopi Luwak itself, but those people who captive-raise civet cats and force them to eat only coffee fruits.

Civet Cat Habitat

Civet cats mainly inhabit tropical rainforests and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest margins in hills and mountainous areas below 2100 meters altitude, including shrub thickets and grasslands, choosing rock caves, soil holes, or tree holes as their habitat sites. Wild civet cats are omnivorous animals, with animal-based food including small mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, and insects, such as mice, small birds, snakes, frogs, fish, crabs, bird eggs, insects, earthworms, and wild fowl. Plant-based food includes stems and leaves of Solanaceae plants, seeds of various figs, and fruits like brosimum fruit and winter cherry. Among the coffee fruits consumed, both Arabica and Robusta beans are mixed. Under normal circumstances, Arabica beans have better flavor than Robusta, so pure Arabica civet cat coffee is particularly precious.

Formation of Kopi Luwak

Due to the low production of Kopi Luwak, many people believe that although coffee beans are not digested in the civet cat's digestive tract, the strongly corrosive digestive fluids have corroded their surface. These digestive fluids contain a special protease that can break down the original protein chains of coffee beans, decomposing long-chain proteins into small particles, forming short-chain peptides and amino acids. Later, many businessmen targeted this business opportunity and began to capture civet cats extensively for cage breeding. The originally carnivorous civet cats could only eat coffee berries. However, the nutritional components in coffee berries cannot keep civet cats healthy.

FrontStreet Coffee doesn't think so! Because of long-term consumption of only coffee berries, the time it takes for civet cats to excrete coffee beans might be just one or two hours after consumption. Coffee beans staying in the civet cat's stomach for only one or two hours is insufficient to produce the series of changes mentioned above. The beans are still the same beans as when they were eaten. Even if there are flavor changes, they are minimal. What truly makes coffee flavor good is the original variety of coffee beans. Those businessmen feed mostly Robusta beans, and even unripe coffee beans. So imagine, even if fermentation occurs inside the body, the original flavor of the beans is already there. Claiming it tastes good is just a deceptive sham~

FrontStreet Coffee's Neutral View on Kopi Luwak

The formation of Kopi Luwak itself is not problematic. Civet cats identify ripe coffee fruits through their noses, which is similar to how Ethiopia's red cherries are harvested when fully ripe. The problem lies with those people who cage civet cats. They force them to eat coffee berries regardless of whether they are ripe or unripe, just to increase the production of Kopi Luwak, leading to these cruel incidents. This no longer falls within the scope of coffee we are discussing.

In-body Fermentation Processing Method

Although coffee beans are not digested in the civet cat's digestive tract, the strongly corrosive digestive fluids have corroded their surface. These digestive fluids contain a special protease that can break down the original protein chains of coffee beans, decomposing long-chain proteins into small particles, forming short-chain peptides and amino acids. Definition of short-chain peptides: Short-chain peptides composed of 3-9 amino acid residues are sometimes also called oligopeptides.

FrontStreet Coffee's Kopi Luwak

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

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

FrontStreet Coffee's Filter Cup Recommendations for Brewing High-Body Coffee

To better express the herbal flavors and rich mouthfeel of Kopi Luwak, FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-dark roasting for Kopi Luwak beans. Medium-dark roasted beans generally have a higher dehydration rate, so they are lighter in weight. During brewing, the powder doesn't completely sink to the bottom; it gets absorbed immediately when water is first poured. Due to vigorous degassing, bubbles form around the powder, creating channels. These channels last longer with fresher beans, causing the water level to drop quickly. I generally use a thick water stream and slowly circle around.

The KONO filter cup can bring out a more rounded and full-bodied flavor with more direct taste expression. However, the KONO filter cup has relatively poor degassing effect because its ribs are straight and only extend one-quarter of the filter cup's depth. Above this quarter, it tightly adheres to the cup wall, forming a sealed state. I choose the KONO filter cup because its only degassing part is those one-quarter ribs. When the water level rises above the rib area, the water volume in the filter cup 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 carries this, it can more effectively extract soluble substances, generally achieving the high body effect that customers expect.

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Brew Kopi Luwak?

Brewing parameters: Using Kono filter cup
Water temperature: 86°C
Coffee amount: 15 grams
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Medium-fine (70% passing rate through China standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing: Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour water in a small circular motion to 125g for segmentation. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the bloom) Extraction time is 2'01".

Kopi Luwak flavor description: Herbal, nuts, dark chocolate, fermented flavor, high body, viscous and smooth mouthfeel.

Considering its scarcity and expensive price, FrontStreet Coffee does not recommend everyone to drink Kopi Luwak. Although real Kopi Luwak has excellent flavor, coffees from other producing countries are also outstanding. For those who love floral flavors, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Panama Geisha coffee, one of the most expensive coffees in the world. For those who prefer fresh, acidic coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Ethiopia Flower Queen coffee beans, with notes like black tea and berries. For those who like balanced nutty caramel flavors—that is, coffee that is neither sour nor bitter—FrontStreet Coffee recommends Brazilian coffee beans. If you still love the robust, full-bodied taste of Indonesian coffee, it's recommended to buy the highest grade FrontStreet Coffee Golden Mandheling coffee, which has undergone multiple manual selections to minimize the defect rate of coffee beans, thereby making the coffee aroma clearer and the aftertaste better. All the above coffee beans can be purchased and ordered at FrontStreet Coffee stores and FrontStreet Coffee's Tmall flagship store.

Important Notice :

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