coffee beans from an animal's bottom?!!

[cawi]

A customer recently told me about this site:
http://www.animalcoffee.com/

[equus007]

correct me if I am wrong but weren't civet cats suppose to be the source of SARS(in conjunction with selling their meat next to bats or something like that). Also couldn't you do this with any member of the weasel family(ermines,ferrets, martens, badgers etc)?

[Alun_evans]

The Civet did indeed get a bad name during the first SARS outbreak in 2003. Actually there are quite a few different types of civet, the one that is coffee related is the smller masked civet- a bit different from the larger civets in China. Only a civet can be specifically tied to Kopi Luwak production. The Civet has a gland located somewhere near its rear end that actually scents/flavours the coffee. While other animals such as weasel can eat and therefore poop coffee, the civet is the only animal that will scent it- producing Kopi Luwak. Here, as in South America, coffee from fruit bat droppings is also popular. IMHO it actually holds a better flavour than Kopi Luwak as the bats are purely herbivore while the Civet (Luwak) is an omnivore. I prefer fruitiness in the cup rather than a slight game-iness!

[equus007]

think I'll take one of these 150lb bags with me down to the zoo and do some experimenting...I know about camels and has but how about black rhinos....could start a real trend here using endangered species.

[Alun_evans]

Hahaha...I like the concept. I dont envy you rummaging through rhino pooh though! Bring a spade and, heavy duty rubber gloves and a face mask.

[gidget]

Since I don't have time to go to Bags of Beans in Tagaytay, I searched for Coffee Alamid in Metro Manila and found it by calling the manufacturer off of the website http://arengga.com

The location they gave me was a restaurant called Poncianas Kitchen. There are two locations in Quezon City and both sold it but the bigger restaurant is located at 67 TIMOG AVENUE CORNER SCOUT TORILLO STREET BARANGAY SOUTH TRIANGLE QUEZON CITY. The smaller bottle cost P350 and the bigger bottle cost P700. This will be a cool gift to our coffee loving friends back in US.

-gidget

[jokerman]

A customer recently told me about this site:
http://www.animalcoffee.com/

You guys need to check out this site if you have not already. It shows a gift box with a bag of beans and on the left a turd shaped cluster of beans. Makes me want to go right out and get some of that coffee.

[Alun_evans]

Nice eh! Always get a laugh out of showing people the droppings. When they dry out it looks like peanut brittle candy- but I am sure the taste is very different!

[jokerman]

Have any of you tried it? If so how does it really taste? And how do you overcome the thought that it has actually exited the Luwak's rear along with other digested parts?

Sure it is cleaned and roasted, but the thought of it all.

[Alun_evans]

I have tried Kopi Luwak a number of times- basically every time I have overseas visitors they want to try KL just to see what its like. IMHO it is not anywhere near as fantastic as those retailers selling it claim. Essentially you are 100% correct in saying the coffee is mixed with other digesting product in teh animals GI tract, meaning (as the Luwak is a omnivore), it is very hit-or-miss on some of the base flavors the bean can pick up. Also you must remember that the Luwak willnot magically change an average coffee into a fantastic one- so if it is eating robusta, the KL will be still robusta when you cup it. I have seen so many times vistors saying how fantastic the coffee is...I have also blinded cupped Luwak with visitors who have commented on how aweful it is...until I have revealed it was Kopi Luwak

[jokerman]

So if the process of mouth to butt does not really change anything then why is it so prized? Maybe I misunderstood. It does change it but it doesn't.

I guess what is really funny for me is I live in Rural America. So if I were to tell people that they were getting coffee whose process included a trip through an animals crapper I would probably have some explaining to do.

[Alun_evans]

I can relate to that. There is a guy in Indonesia who has a roastery called "Dombha Coffee"...the local dialect for "Sheep Coffee". Not surprisingly his coffee is roasted dark and somewhat resembles sheep droppings (being a Kiwi by origin, I am an expert on baaaa sheep ). Anyway, back to KL. There have been numerous tasting as well as scientific studies done on Kopi Luwak. The scientific expert is Dr Massimo F. Marcone, from Guelph Uni in Canada. Scientifically the coffee is indeed altered by the trip from mouth to butt...the scent glands near the rear end of the animal are like a musk and do alter the base flavors in the bean. The GI tract, and its digestive juices pitt the surface of the bean and perhaps allow other flavors to bond- ie fruits that teh animal has digested, or partly digested. However, like anything, I think the high value in the product is partly through the perceived scarcity, partly novelty. I myself, with access to plenty of KL, would rather have in my cup some of teh more unusual arabicas I can get here to be honest.

[jokerman]

I myself, with access to plenty of KL, would rather have in my cup some of teh more unusual arabicas I can get here to be honest.

I noticed on your site that you had several arabica choices. What do you look for in a coffee? How do you prep it?

I personally am more interested in a nuttier taste from the bean than a fruity taste. I prep it simply with grinder and press pot. Course that probably sounds like a novice approach to someone like you.

[Alun_evans]

Hey Jokerman. You know coffee, like wine, is and should always be drinkers choice first- so if you like a nuttier cup, then good for you. Different origins, in different countries, growing different types of Arabica, means that the choices in what you want in the cup are endless. Most INdonesian coffees are not nutty, but rather have frutiness- berry, stone fruit, hints of tropical fruit- as well as chocolate, vanilla, caramel etc in them. For me, as a roaster, I am looking for these type of cupping characteristics when sample roasting all the arabicas I collect on my travels. A roaster, like a wine maker, has the resources of the raw material at his/her finger tips. What he or she then does with the green, is totally up to them and their taste to a certain degree. For instsnce if Toper, Coffeeguy and I were all roasting 60kg of say a Typica from East Java, I guarantee the 3 finished roasts- although from exactly the same bean- would be very, very different. Its the beauty of coffee.

[jokerman]

I fully agree that taste is up to the person. Thanks for the info. To be honest and perhaps that is very obvious, my knowledge of coffee is not that broad. I got into different coffees about a year ago. Part of the reason I jumped on this site is to see what else is out there beyond the scope of the basic American coffee shop choices.

I don't get into wine, but like coffee I appreciate the background that goes into the of making my personal cup of coffee. From the type of soil on down it is a very interesting process. I am here in Kentucky in the USA. Our pride and joy as far as drink is Kentucky Bourbon. I have always been fascinated with how it is distilled. Trying the different kinds of bourbon's is like that of finding a good coffee. Hey, my favorite flavored coffee is Ky. Bourbon coffee, go figure. But anyway, thanks for the insight for this rookie coffee lover.