Introduction to Sumatran Civet Coffee - How Much Does Civet Coffee Cost

FrontStreet Coffee - Sumatran Civet Coffee Introduction

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Although civets are distributed throughout the Indochinese Peninsula, India (northeast), Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, and Kashmir regions, only the Sumatran civet can produce kopi luwak. Moreover, they live in the jungle and are omnivorous animals, so the production of kopi luwak is extremely rare.

With an annual production of only five hundred pounds and a price that can run into hundreds of dollars per cup, people still flock to "kopi luwak" - when traveling to Bali, not drinking a cup of kopi luwak or buying some as souvenirs makes one feel they're missing out. Not just in Indonesia locally, the pursuit of kopi luwak in China has also intensified. Kopi luwak has even been turned into a chain brand by savvy businesses, similar to the famous "Caffe Bene," available for "franchising."

Generally speaking, the "cat" in "cat poop coffee" refers to an animal called the palm civet (also known as the civet cat), which is a viverrid animal. It looks extremely cute and is closely related to the masked palm civet and the small Indian civet. Its face also bears some resemblance to a raccoon. Palm civets naturally love to eat ripe coffee fruits. Their digestive tracts break down the skin, pulp, and pectin, and these outer structures rich in carbohydrates and proteins are broken down into coffee with low bitterness and low acidity.

Even more miraculously, the coffee beans with their outer skins removed enter a state of "preparing to germinate" in the warm, humid intestines of the palm civet. A coffee bean that wants to germinate will consciously undergo a series of metabolic activities, such as converting its internal starch into sugar, resulting in the final coffee product having higher sweetness. However, all of this remains speculative.

The longer kopi luwak beans are stored, the more intense their aroma becomes. Coffee brewed from kopi luwak beans is also relatively thick, leaving fine residue at the bottom of the cup after drinking. Although kopi luwak has a mellow and fragrant taste, today's civets are all farmed, and the coffee's taste still depends on the quality of the coffee fruits fed to them. While coffee fruits generally have their own characteristics, Arabica varieties tend to be of better quality than Robusta varieties.

The reason kopi luwak is so expensive is firstly because of its unique taste. It has a very special aroma. After drinking, a faint minty cool feeling remains in the mouth - this "exclusive taste" that ordinary coffee doesn't have. After finishing a cup, taking a deep breath or sipping some cool water will clearly reveal a cooling sensation from mouth to throat, like just having eaten a mint lozenge.

Knowledge Bonus: Besides kopi luwak, there are even so-called elephant dung coffee, monkey dung coffee, etc. These are all produced through extremely cruel methods, usually forcing animals to eat these coffee cherries, not only restricting their freedom but also causing physical harm to them.

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