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'''Kopi muncak''' (or '''kopi muntjak'''), a different type of coffee produced in a similar process, is made from the dung of barking [[deer]] ([[muntjac]]) found throughout [[Southeast Asia]]. Unlike civet coffee, Kopi muncak is mostly gathered in the wild, chiefly in [[Indonesia]]n Archipelago.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}
'''Kopi muncak''' (or '''kopi muntjak'''), a different type of coffee produced in a similar process, is made from the dung of barking [[deer]] ([[muntjac]]) found throughout [[Southeast Asia]]. Unlike civet coffee, Kopi muncak is mostly gathered in the wild, chiefly in [[Indonesia]]n Archipelago.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}


BECYOU will DIE if you EAT cat POOP coffee don't drink it unless YOU PUT YOUR FACE on youtube SO I CAN LAUGH AT YOU becAUSE YOU EAT CHICKEN BUTT. YOU ARE SO GAY THAT YOU WILL DIE IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS. YOU WILL DIE SOMETIME. YOU WILL DIE EVENTUALLY IF YOU DRINK CAT POOP COFFEE OR IF YOU EAT VEGETABLES. VEGETABLES HAVE CAT POOP IN THEM TO. IF THEY SAY YOU LIVE LONGER WHEN YOU EAT VEGETABLES KILL THEM IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU GO TO JAIL IT IS NOT MY FAULT JUST WARNING YOU. (DO IT)
==Production==
<!--[[Image:Paradox hermaph 060924 ltn.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Young [[Asian Palm Civet|Asian palm civet]] (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus'')]]-->
[[File:Luwak.jpg|thumb|200px|An [[Asian Palm Civet]]]]
''Kopi'' is the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] word for coffee. ''Luwak'' is a local name of the [[Asian Palm Civet|Asian palm civet]] in Sumatra. Palm civets are primarily [[Frugivore|frugivorous]], feeding on berries and pulpy fruits such as from [[Ficus|fig trees]] and [[Arecaceae|palms]]. Civets also eat small vertebrates, [[insect]]s, ripe fruits and seeds.<ref>Ismail, Ahmad, ''[http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~ahmad/kuliah/manusia/tugasan/2004/civet.pdf Common palm civet]'', retrieved 18 February 2010</ref>

Early production began when beans were gathered in the wild from where a civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory. On farms, civets are either caged or allowed to roam within defined boundaries.<ref name=aftertaste>{{cite news |author=[[Norimitsu Onishi]] |coauthors= |title=From Dung to Coffee Brew With No Aftertaste |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/world/asia/18civetcoffee.html |quote=Costing hundreds of dollars a pound, these beans are found in the droppings of the civet, a nocturnal, furry, long-tailed catlike animal that prowls Southeast Asia’s coffee-growing lands for the tastiest, ripest coffee cherries. The civet eventually excretes the hard, indigestible innards of the fruit — essentially, incipient coffee beans — though only after they have been fermented in the animal’s stomach acids and enzymes to produce a brew described as smooth, chocolaty and devoid of any bitter aftertaste. |work=[[New York Times]] |date=April 18, 2010 |accessdate=2010-04-18 }}</ref>

Coffee cherries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet's [[digestive tract]] the beans are then [[defecated]] in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry's inner layers. They are gathered, thoroughly washed, sun dried and given only a light roast so as to keep the many intertwined flavors and lack of bitterness yielded inside the civet.

===Research===
[[Image:Kopi Luwak already digested by Asian Palm Civet.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Defecated luwak coffee berries, [[East Java]]]]
Several studies have examined the process in which the animal's stomach acids and enzymes digest the beans' covering and ferment the beans.<ref name="uoguelph">{{cite web|url=http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/archives/002065.html|title=Kopi luwak coffee safe, U of G study finds|date=November 26, 2002}}</ref><ref name="trnguyen">trung-nguyen-online.com, ''[http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/legendee.html Legendee: The Legend of the Weasel]'', retrieved 18 February 2010</ref><ref name="usda1" /> Research by food scientist Massimo Marcone at the [[University of Guelph]] in Ontario, Canada showed that the civet's [[Endogeny|endogenous]] [[digestive tract|digestive]] secretions seep into the beans. These secretions carry [[Protease|proteolytic enzymes]] which break down the beans' proteins, yielding shorter [[peptide]]s and more free [[amino acid]]s. Since the flavor of coffee owes much to its proteins, there is a hypothesis that this shift in the numbers and kinds of proteins in beans after being swallowed by civets brings forth their unique flavor. The proteins are also involved in non-enzymatic [[Maillard reaction|Maillard browning]] reactions brought about later by roasting. Moreover, while inside a civet the beans begin to [[germinate]] by [[malt]]ing which also lowers their bitterness.<ref name="marcone1">Marcone, Massimo, ''In Bad Taste: The Adventures And Science Behind Food Delicacies'', 2007</ref><ref name="marcone2">Marcone, Massimo, ''Food Research International'', Volume 37, Issue 9, pages 901-912, 2004</ref>

At the outset of his research Marcone doubted the safety of kopi luwak. However, he found that after the thorough washing, levels of harmful organisms were insignificant. Roasting at high temperature has been cited as making the beans safer after washing.

===Civet coffee imitation===
Research into the palm civet's digestive processes and the transformation of the beans' proteins has led to the discovery of innovative ways to imitate the taste of kopi luwak without the civet's involvement. It is a response to the decrease in civet population, caused by hunting for meat.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8199997.stm | work=BBC News | title=Vietnam species 'risk extinction' | date=13 August 2009}}</ref> Kopi luwak production involves a great deal of labor, whether farmed or wild-gathered. The small production quantity and the labor involved in production contribute to the coffee's high cost.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnpI6aMGW1Y Feature by WBAL Channel 11 television news team]</ref> The high price of kopi luwak is another factor that drives the search for a way to produce kopi luwak in large quantities, lowering the cost.

The [[University of Florida]] has developed a way to recreate how nature produces Kopi Luwak without the involvement of any animals. This technology has been licensed to a Gainesville Florida firm, Coffee Primero, which now produces and distributes that product at a price competitive with ordinary quality coffees.<ref name="usda1">[http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/208321.html QUALITY ENHANCEMENT OF COFFEE BEANS BY ACID AND ENZYME TREATMENT]</ref><ref name="faqspatent">[http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090220645 Quality Enhancement of Coffee Beans by Acid and Enzyme Treatment]</ref>

The [[Trung Nguyên|Trung Nguyên Coffee Company]] in [[Vietnam]], through its work in isolating the civet's digestive enzymes, has patented its own synthetic enzyme soak, which is used in its ''Legendee'' brand simulated kopi luwak coffee.<ref name="trnguyen" />


==Price==
==Price==

Revision as of 16:13, 22 June 2011

Sumatran kopi luwak farmer shows beans prior to cleaning and roasting, Sumatra, Indonesia

Kopi luwak (Malay pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, is one of the world's most expensive and low-production varieties of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.[1] A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.

Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, and also in the Philippines (where the product is called motit coffee in the Cordillera and kape alamid in Tagalog areas) and also in East Timor (where it is called kafé-laku). Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its name cà phê Chồn in Vietnam, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced.

History

The origin of Kopi Luwak is closely connected with the history of Coffee production in Indonesia. In early 18th century The Dutch established the cash-crop plantations in their colony in Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830—1870), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers to pick coffee fruits for their own use. Yet the native farmers desired to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian Palm Civet) consumed these coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collect these Luwak's dropping coffee seeds; clean, roast and grind it to make coffee beverage.[2] The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon become their favorites, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even in colonial times.

Cultivars, blends, and tastes

Luwak Coffee Beans

Kopi luwak is a name for many specific cultivars and blends of arabica, robusta, liberica, excelsa or other beans eaten by civets, hence the taste can vary greatly. Nonetheless, kopi luwak coffees have a shared aroma profile and flavor characteristics, along with their lack of bitterness.

Kopi luwak tastes unlike heavy roasted coffees, since roasting levels range only from cinnamon color to medium, with little or no caramelization of sugars within the beans as happens with heavy roasting. Moreover, kopi luwaks which have very smooth profiles are most often given a lighter roast. Iced kopi luwak brews may bring out some flavors not found in other coffees.

Sumatra is the world's largest regional producer of kopi luwak. Sumatran civet coffee beans are mostly an early arabica variety cultivated in the Indonesian archipelago since the seventeenth century. Tagalog cafe alamid (or alamid cafe) comes from civets fed on a mixture of coffee beans and is sold in the Batangas region along with gift shops near airports in the Philippines.

Kopi muncak

Kopi muncak (or kopi muntjak), a different type of coffee produced in a similar process, is made from the dung of barking deer (muntjac) found throughout Southeast Asia. Unlike civet coffee, Kopi muncak is mostly gathered in the wild, chiefly in Indonesian Archipelago.[citation needed]

BECYOU will DIE if you EAT cat POOP coffee don't drink it unless YOU PUT YOUR FACE on youtube SO I CAN LAUGH AT YOU becAUSE YOU EAT CHICKEN BUTT. YOU ARE SO GAY THAT YOU WILL DIE IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS. YOU WILL DIE SOMETIME. YOU WILL DIE EVENTUALLY IF YOU DRINK CAT POOP COFFEE OR IF YOU EAT VEGETABLES. VEGETABLES HAVE CAT POOP IN THEM TO. IF THEY SAY YOU LIVE LONGER WHEN YOU EAT VEGETABLES KILL THEM IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU GO TO JAIL IT IS NOT MY FAULT JUST WARNING YOU. (DO IT)

Price

A window display in an upscale coffee shop showing Luwak Coffee in forms of defecated clumps (bottom), pre-baked beans (left), and post-baked beans (right).

Kopi luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between US $100 and $600 per pound.[1] The specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, which is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets, is sold at $6600 per kilogram ($3000 per pound).[3] Most customers are in Asia - especially Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.[4] Sources vary widely as to annual worldwide production.[5]

In November 2006 Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms, a small cafe in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland, Australia, put kopi luwak coffee on its menu at A$50.00 (US $35.00 PPP) a cup, selling about seven cups a week, which gained nationwide Australian and international press.[6] In April 2008 the brasserie at Peter Jones department store in London's Sloane Square began selling a blend of kopi luwak and Blue Mountain called Caffe Raro for £50 (US $79.00) a cup.[7] Peck in downtown Milan sells a small espresso cup for 15 euros.

Coffee Primero sells their "Magic Cat" line of coffee, which is made with their exclusive process developed by the University of Florida that mimicks how nature creates Kopi Luwak without the involvement of any animals, for $15.99 per pound.

References

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference aftertaste was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ National Geographic Travellers Indonesia, November 2010, page 44
  3. ^ "World's priciest coffee gifted to Vietnam's VIP guests". August 11, 2010.
  4. ^ McGeown, Kate (1 May 2011). "Civet passes on secret to luxury coffee". BBC News.
  5. ^ Sweet, Leonard (2007). The Gospel According to Starbucks. Waterbrook Press. p. 23. ISBN 9781578566495.
  6. ^ heritagetearooms.com.au, Kopi Luwak, 5 September 2007, retrieved 18 February 2010
  7. ^ guardian.co.uk, The £50 espresso, 11 April 2008, The Guardian, accessed on 18 February 2010
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