How to Brew Kopi Luwak After Grinding: A Visual Guide

Kopi Luwak is one of the most special and expensive coffees in the world. To brew its authentic flavor, it's essential to understand the proper brewing methods, as improper brewing would be truly wasteful. With growing knowledge about coffee and higher lifestyle standards, more people are pursuing the process of brewing coffee at home. Therefore, to brew a delicious cup of coffee, it's necessary to understand brewing methods well to avoid wasting coffee beans.

Many people might find the name of this coffee unappetizing, but it is indeed coffee beans cleaned from the feces of the civet cat. The civet cat is a musk-secreting small animal on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Kopi Luwak is just an alias for this coffee; its formal name is "Kopi Luwak," which means civet cat coffee. In Indonesian, "Kopi" means "coffee," while "Luwak" refers to a wild animal called the "civet cat." The origin of civet cat coffee can be traced back to Indonesia's colonial era, when the Dutch government prohibited locals from consuming and roasting coffee from the plantations, but accidentally discovered that the coffee beans excreted by wild civets after eating in the gardens had a completely different and delicious flavor.

The civet cat (LUWAK) seems to be a gourmet connoisseur in the animal kingdom. Mature, fragrant, plump, and juicy coffee fruits are among their favorite foods. These rare animals in the world have exceptionally keen senses of smell, and they specially pick the most delicious and plump coffee fruits from coffee trees to treat themselves. After passing through the civet cat's digestive system, only the skin and pulp of the fruit are digested, while the hard original coffee beans are excreted from their bodies unchanged. This digestive process brings unparalleled changes to the coffee beans, creating a unique flavor that is particularly fragrant and mellow, with a rich and rounded mouthfeel that other coffees cannot compare to. This is because the civet cat's digestive system breaks down the proteins in the coffee beans, reducing much of the bitterness while increasing the rounded mouthfeel of these coffee beans. The civet cat has a musk gland near its reproductive organs, which also covers the coffee beans with a faint, exotic fragrance.

Kopi Luwak beans are coffee beans that pass through the civet cat's intestines after the animal eats coffee fruits. Special bacteria in the intestines provide a unique fermentation environment. Since the intestines cannot digest the coffee beans, they are excreted. The coffee beans fermented through the civet cat's gastrointestinal system develop a unique flavor that is exceptionally thick and mellow.

The Terroir of Sumatra

The land of the Indonesian Sumatra archipelago is far from the hustle and bustle, with abundant sunshine year-round, pure air, suitable humidity, and fertile soil. Due to its unique geographical environment and mild climate, the ecological environment of the Sumatra archipelago has been well protected. Sumatra Island extends from northwest to southeast, crossing the equator in the middle, and consists of two regions: the Barisan Mountains in the west and swampy areas in the east. The western half is traversed by mountains, with the majestic Barisan Mountains running northwest-southeast for 1600 kilometers (1000 miles), containing over 90 volcanoes, with the highest peak, Mount Kerinci, reaching an altitude of 3800 meters (12467 feet). East of the mountains are alluvial plains, wider in the south and narrower in the north, with the widest point exceeding 100 kilometers. There are numerous rivers, mainly the Musi River, Batang Hari River, Indragiri River, and Kampar River, most of which are navigable. The pristine, pollution-free forests have nurtured high-quality Arabica coffee varieties, with fruits that are exceptionally full and round, producing coffee with a rich and mellow flavor.

Flavor Profile

Indonesian coffee carries earthy and medicinal notes, with a body that ranks among the highest of all regions, such as Indonesian Mandheling coffee. However, "Kopi Luwak" has an even stronger earthy flavor, with a consistency approaching syrup and possessing a very special aroma. After drinking, there remains a faint cool mint sensation in the mouth, which is an "exclusive taste" not found in other coffees. After finishing a cup, taking a deep breath or sipping cool water allows you to clearly feel a coolness from mouth to throat, truly like having just finished a mint lozenge.

Although Kopi Luwak has a mellow and fragrant taste, today's civet cats are farmed, and the coffee's taste still depends on the quality of the coffee fruits they are fed. While the quality of coffee fruits generally varies, Arabica varieties are better than Robusta varieties. FrontStreet Coffee does not recommend trying Kopi Luwak. Of course, if you can taste authentic Kopi Luwak, that would be nice, but the price will be quite high. This is mainly because today's Kopi Luwak comes from farmed civet cats, which is undoubtedly cruel for these freedom-loving animals. They are only fed coffee beans, and even raw, unripe coffee beans, causing the civets to excrete only coffee beans, sometimes with blood.

Brewing Method

How should Kopi Luwak be brewed to taste good? FrontStreet Coffee suggests using pour-over brewing.

For the choice of dripper, FrontStreet Coffee selected the Kono Meimon dripper. The greatest feature of the Kono dripper is that its ribs extend from the bottom to the middle, with the upper part having smooth walls. This way, when the filter paper fits against the dripper, water cannot "sneak" past the coffee grounds, enhancing the richness and body of the taste.

FrontStreet Coffee still uses 15g of coffee grounds. The amount of coffee grounds is not necessarily better when more or when less; it depends on the specific dripper specifications. FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1-2 person dripper, where 15-20g is a reasonable brewing amount. Brewing with amounts outside this range may be somewhat difficult.

For the brewing ratio, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 1:15. Although some suggest using 1:13 or even smaller ratios, FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned in previous articles that concentration and body are not necessarily related. Moreover, over-concentration can cause discomfort. Therefore, using a 1:15 ratio can also perfectly express the rich body and special aroma of Kopi Luwak.

For coffee grind size, FrontStreet Coffee uses a 75% pass rate through a #20 sieve. The grind size for brewing Kopi Luwak should be slightly coarser than for light roast coffee beans because Kopi Luwak uses dark roasting, which has a looser structure and more easily absorbs water to release coffee substances. If ground to the fineness of light roast beans, it can easily produce a burnt bitter taste; if ground even coarser, it will make the coffee thin and tasteless, with a watery texture.

For water temperature selection, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 88°C water for brewing. Similar to the grind size principle, too high a temperature can easily produce burnt bitterness, while too low temperature makes the coffee flat and can produce unpleasant sour notes.

The brewing method uses a three-stage pouring technique. Dividing the water into three stages can better express the rich body and caramel sweetness of Kopi Luwak. The specific water allocation is: first stage 30ml for blooming, this stage completely wets the coffee grounds for degassing, allowing better extraction of flavor substances in subsequent stages; second stage inject 100ml; final stage inject 95ml to enhance the coffee's sweetness, overall expressing a substantial body, caramel sweetness, and chocolate and nut flavors.

Flavor Description

Kopi Luwak flavor description: Herbal, nutty, with a smooth and rich mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects the flavor. Therefore, coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it is at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds you: if the coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for resting, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide production in the package can also make the coffee flavor rounded, so you can immediately brew a cup to drink upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it oxidizes quickly after contact with air, meaning the coffee's flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

Kopi Luwak is still coffee, and the effects of coffee are the same. You don't necessarily have to drink Kopi Luwak. In fact, there are so many coffee varieties in the world, and FrontStreet Coffee has nearly fifty different coffee beans from various origins, such as Panama's Geisha coffee, Colombia's anaerobically processed Huayuexie and Rose Valley coffee with their floral and fruity notes, Ethiopia's washed Yirgacheffe coffee and natural Red Cherry coffee with bright floral and fruity aromas from the birthplace of coffee, etc. All are worth tasting. If you're really unsure what kind of flavor you like, you can first try FrontStreet Coffee's daily blend beans. FrontStreet Coffee's daily blend beans are representatives from various coffee-producing countries, offering excellent value and are very suitable for everyone to choose as entry beans to find their preferred taste.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

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Important Notice :

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