Civet coffee, locally called Kopi Luwak, is coffee made from the undigested coffee berries that have been eaten by a civet cat and passed through its digestive system before coming out in its droppings. The berries are then cleaned and processed to become a premium coffee.
Kopi luwak dates back from the 18th century, when the Dutch brought coffee seeds from Yemen to be cultivated in Indonesia. The Dutch forbade the local coffee farmers from consuming the high-class beverage. Nonetheless, the farmers found their way to enjoy it, as they accidentally discovered that they could process the undigested coffee beans dropped by the civet cats into an even tastier beverage. Since then this coffee has been known as kopi luwak (luwak is the Indonesian word for civet cat). The price range is between Rp 2 million per kg and Rp 15 million per kg, depending on quality. Prices could be as high as Rp 250,000 a cup, preventing many locals from being able to afford a sip of the coffee.
Luwak, the Asian palm civet whose Latin name is paradoxurus hermaphroditus, is an omnivore that eats insects, chickens, eggs, fruit and, occasionally, coffee berries. When it does snack on the berries, it uses its sensitive sense of smell to pick only the best quality coffee berries. Naturally, the best kopi luwak beans only come from the luwak that live in the wild. Kopi luwak is judged not only on the way the luwak lived, but also based on whether the beans were the
higher-grade Arabica or the filler type, Robusta.
