Is Kopi Luwak Only Found in Indonesia? A Guide to Identifying Authentic Indonesian Civet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's Guide to Identifying Authentic Indonesian Civet Coffee

Civet coffee is a general category of coffee and also a specialty of Indonesia. In Indonesian it is called Kopi Luwak: Kopi means coffee, while Luwak refers to a tree-dwelling wild animal commonly known as the civet cat, found on the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi.

This coffee is jokingly called the most fragrant poop in history. The name may not be elegant, but it is accurate, because the raw material really is the feces of the civet cat. Civets love to eat the fleshy coffee cherries but cannot digest the hard coffee seeds, which they then excrete. Indonesians discovered that beans fermented inside the civet's digestive system come out exceptionally thick and aromatic. So they carefully collect the civet droppings and, through several steps including selection, sun-drying, deodorizing, and roasting, create the world's rarest and most unusual coffee. Because production is limited, it commands a premium and ranks among the most expensive coffees in the world.

There are two kinds of animals on the market that produce "civet coffee": the masked palm civet and the civet cat. So are the masked palm civet and the civet cat the same species? The clear answer is no, they are not the same animal. Although both belong to the Viverridae family, the masked palm civet has only scent glands, while the civet cat has both scent glands and a scent pouch.

How to Identify Genuine Civet Coffee?

The special flavor of civet coffee comes from two sources: the distinctive natural scent of the civet cat itself, and a digestive process that consumes large amounts of sugar. The natural scent is quite unique and cannot be replicated. What does the sugar consumption do to the taste? With less sugar, the bitterness formed by caramelization during roasting is reduced. Having both a special aroma and low bitterness is why so many people find it delicious. Delicious and rare makes it expensive. That is exactly why many producers use masked palm civets in place of civet cats to make what they claim is civet coffee; the two animals are similar in size, which makes it easy to pass one off as the other.

Conclusion

Civet cats feed on coffee cherries as their main food during the bean maturation season. After complete digestion, the sugar has been consumed and the beans in the feces lose their stickiness. The coffee beans do not stick together; once excreted and dried they quickly disperse, appearing as loose individual beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For anyone drawn to the heavy, earthy, low-acid side of Indonesian coffee but looking for a dependable everyday option, FrontStreet Indonesian Wet-Hulled Mandheling is a natural starting point. Grown around Toba Lake in the Lintong region of Sumatra, it is processed with the local wet-hulling method, which leaves the green beans exposed to the air during drying and gives the cup its signature herbal and spice notes. Roasted medium-dark, it is low in acidity and full-bodied, carrying caramel, dark chocolate, and toast with a long sweet finish.

If you want the top tier of Indonesian coffee, FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling is the benchmark. PWN works only with specialty-grade Mandheling, and its flagship Golden Mandheling is sorted once by machine and then by hand to remove defects, producing uniform, plump, translucent beans. Freshly roasted, it shows sandalwood, herbs, spice, roasted hazelnut, caramel, and dark chocolate in a clean, dense, aromatic cup.