Kopi Luwak – the most expensive coffee in the world

Before we get started I actually suggest you to not to drink coffee while reading this. It’s for your own good.
So what is this coffee that costs between 120 and 600 USD per pound and about US$50 per cup? It called Kopi Luwak and only 1000 pounds (450 kg) at most is available in world market a year. Also known as Civet coffee it is made from coffee berries that have been eaten and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The beans inside the berries pass through the system undigested and are then defecated.

Kopi is the Indonesian word for the coffee and luwak is a local name of the Asian Palm Civet. It has been suggested that the enzymes in civet’s stomach break down the proteins in the beans that give the coffee its bitter taste. When beans have been defecated, they are still covered with few inner layers of the berry. The beans are then washed and given only a light roast to avoid destroying the complex flavors that are developed through the process. In earlier days beans were mainly gathered from the wild from specific places where civets would defecate to mark its territory. Nowadays, more of the beans come from farms where captured civets are fed raw berries.

Kopi Luwak is produced in Indonesian islands Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi, but also in Philippines (they call it Kape Alamid) and East Timor (called kafé-laku). Vietnam also produces similar type of coffee which is called weasel coffee which is made from coffee berries regurgiated by local weasels (who is actually a local version of Asian Palm Civet).

Bon appetit!