Pour-Over Brewing Method for Kopi Luwak with Illustrated Steps and Flavor Profile Description

Introduction to Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak is one of the most special premium coffee beans in the world, with authentic wild Kopi Luwak beans selling for 7,000 RMB per jin (500g). Therefore, improper brewing would result in tremendous waste. So if you're fortunate enough to obtain Kopi Luwak beans, how can you brew them without disappointment?

FrontStreet Coffee will first briefly introduce the origin of Kopi Luwak. Kopi Luwak beans are produced when civets eat coffee cherries, and the coffee beans undergo unique fermentation in the civet's intestinal tract, where special bacteria provide a distinctive fermentation environment. Since the civet's digestive system cannot digest the coffee beans, they are excreted. The coffee beans fermented through the civet's digestive system develop unique flavors and become exceptionally rich and aromatic.

Flavor Characteristics

Indonesian coffee typically carries earthy and herbal medicine notes, with a viscosity that ranks among the highest across all coffee regions. However, "Kopi Luwak" has an even more pronounced earthy flavor, while its viscosity approaches that of syrup, possessing a very special aroma. After drinking, a faint cooling sensation of mint remains in the mouth—this is an "exclusive taste" not found in regular coffees. After finishing a cup, taking a deep breath or sipping some cool water will distinctly reveal a refreshing sensation from mouth to throat, much like having just finished a mint throat lozenge.

Brewing Method

How should FrontStreet Coffee brew Kopi Luwak to make it delicious? FrontStreet Coffee recommends using pour-over brewing.

For the filter cup selection, FrontStreet Coffee has chosen the Kono Meimon filter cup. The most prominent feature of the Kono filter cup is that its ribs extend from the bottom to the middle, while the upper part features smooth filter cup walls. This design prevents water from "sneaking" around the coffee grounds when the filter paper adheres to the filter cup, thereby enhancing the richness of the taste. It's suitable for brewing rich-flavored coffee beans such as FrontStreet Coffee's Golden Mandheling and FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1.

FrontStreet Coffee still uses 15g of coffee grounds. More coffee grounds are not necessarily better, nor are fewer grounds necessarily better—this depends on the specific filter cup specifications. FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1-2 person filter cup, where 15-20g of grounds is considered a reasonable brewing amount. Brewing with amounts outside this range can be somewhat challenging.

For the brewing ratio, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 1:15. Although some might suggest using 1:13 or an even smaller ratio, FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned in previous articles that concentration and richness are not necessarily correlated. Moreover, excessive concentration can cause discomfort. Therefore, using a 1:15 ratio can also很好地 express the rich texture and special aroma of FrontStreet Coffee's Kopi Luwak.

For coffee grind size, FrontStreet Coffee uses a 70% pass rate through a #20 sieve. The grind size for brewing FrontStreet Coffee's Kopi Luwak should be slightly coarser than for light-roasted coffee beans because FrontStreet Coffee's Kopi Luwak uses dark roasting, which results in a more porous structure that more easily absorbs water and releases coffee substances. If ground to the fineness of light-roasted beans, it's easy to extract bitter and burnt flavors; if ground even coarser, the coffee will become thin and tasteless, with a watery texture.

For water temperature selection, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 87-88°C water for brewing. Similar to the grind size principle, excessively high water temperature tends to produce burnt and bitter flavors, while water that's too low results in flat coffee and may produce unpleasant sour notes.

The brewing method uses a three-stage pour-over approach. Dividing the pour into three stages can better express the rich texture of Kopi Luwak as well as its caramel sweetness. The specific water distribution is: first stage—bloom with 30ml of water, completely wetting the coffee grounds for degassing to better extract coffee flavor substances in subsequent stages; second stage—pour 100ml; final stage—pour 95ml to enhance the coffee's sweetness, overall presenting a rich, full-bodied texture with caramel sweetness and chocolate, nut flavors.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473