coffee beans from an animal's bottom?!!

[Indcoup]

I was surprised to see that in Indonesia there is a type of coffee that comes from beans that have passed through a small furry mammal:

http://indcoup.blogspot.com/2006/01/shi ... -well.html

Apparently, it’s also the world’s most expensive coffee at US$175 for a pound.

Is this really true?

What is it like?

 

[topher]

 

[lbrault]

Is it a legend?

I can't get a definitive answer on whether this practice actually exists. Apparently at one time it did, or at least it gave the idea to somebody who then went in and tried to analyze why partially-digested coffee would taste better. Very simply, there are some enzymes that break down substances in the beans and release some fantastic flavors.

There may well be people who are doing the beans the "original" way, but I guess you would have to be a little crazy to drink that and pay that kind of money. Or am I being judgemental?

Trung Nguyen of Vietnam created the "Weasel" coffee, which is the first and only bean I know of that attempts to duplicate this enzyme process (without the assistance of a furry animal). Using food grade enzymes they do soak the coffee. It's a must-do to visit a Trung Nguyen coffee shop if you travel to HoChiMin City and have a cup of Legendee "Weasel" coffee. I imported it for my online shop and I have to say that Legendee is one of the best tasting coffees I have ever tried (hot), but it has very little aroma. It is incredibly rich yet has no bitterness. However, when poured directly over ice, it makes the best ice coffee imaginable, it's a flavor explosion.

I have it in small packs so it is not that expensive to try, about $3.50 per 100 grams, or about $15 per pound. www.trung-nguyen-online.com

 

[Chammy]

They've been watching too much Animal Planet......



Wow, I'd like to try that Vietnamese coffee. $15 is a bit much for me though but do u have sample packs?

 

[Maldini]

errr. the last time I went to vietnam, that coffee you're talking about is actually prepared the same way.

they use civet cats to ingest the coffee and excrete it. im not joking, so what you're buying is probably prepared the same way

but they do clean it quite thoroughly and I enjoyed the coffee too :wink:

 

[Alun_evans]

Yes actually I will tell you guys a big secret...this coffee is actually not as rare as the distributors around the world would let you think. I read somewhere that an "expert" reckons aonly 500kg a year is produced. In reality, many of the small villages around Java and Sumatra drink KL as their everyday drink. Granted, in many cases it is Kopi Luwak from Robusta, but still it is the same stuff that goes through the Palm Civets GI tract. We have our very own Civet at home as a pet. He does produce a little of the coffee, but being a pet means he is not so inclined to eat and digest the coffee in the same way. Actually recently he has taken to Pepaya and Pineapple and is not so keen on coffee. Anyway...when we made a Civet documentary we spent some time in a village and they showed us how they collect and process the coffee. Their roasting techniques are pretty primative, but the stuff cupped pretty OK. As the Palm Civet is infact a omni-vore, I always chuckle when reading reviews on the cupping characteristics...sure you get fruits...but also sometimes the slight hint of decayed mouse or egg!!! Anyway...my door is ALWAYS open to anyone coming over this way. The villagers just up the road from me have good quantities of Luwak- I will not even mention the price because no one would believe it :grin:

 

[neglid]

If you have the time, do a search on internet explorer: search: kopi luwak.
It will take you to a list of links. Click on the first link.
In real life, I do not believe that Kopi Luwak sell for $175.00 (not the real kopi). There are only about 500 kg produced every year. Most of it goes to Japan and Germany at a price of $600.00/lb. Why makes us so special that we can obtain this rare coffee for $175.00 (green beans)?. Does anyone know if this coffee has ever been in a cupping session and a complete laboratory analysis?. In the end, kopi 175.00 may turn out to be nothing more than fermented arabica beans that are very far from the civet that helps in the production of the real kopi.

 

[Alun_evans]

Prof Massimo Marcone at Guelph Uni in Canada can do the analysis for you at a price. He is about the only person in the world who can do the test- I guess there just is not a demand for Kopi Luwak scientists. Basically the test is a colour spectrum test. The KL has quite unique spectrum readings and also displays pitting from the time it has been in the Gastro-Intesintal tract of the Civet. As previously mentioned...there is absolutley no reason that this coffee is priced so high...except the consumers demand for the unique.

 

[Alun_evans]

Interesting Len. I am not sure if weasels would produce quite the same result! The Palm Civet (and most of the other civet family) have a gland located near their rear end. This gland is apparently one of the factors that produce the unique coffee...

 

[Alun_evans]

Yum, yum!!! Pooh coffee...and now spew coffee! :grin:

 

[BeanGrinder]

Hey - in the end it all tastes like it came from Starbucks! :twisted:

 

[lbrault]

Enzyme process

Thanks to all who posted good info on this topic, I'm not sure I will ever really know this subject fully. But the posts were helpful.

Trung Nguyen claims to have studied what takes place in the civet and has duplicated the process by a (secret of course) formula using isolated enzymes that similar to the natural ones. This seems to makes sense, since the process that takes place is not really a mystery, why not simulate it and do without the "occasional dead mouse" as a previous poster so delicately phrased it.

The coffee is called Legendee / Weasel, and they make no representation that it is anything but what they feel is a similar, but hygenic process. The result is one incredible coffee... and most of the tourists who come back from Vietnam looking for weasel coffee that they had in a coffee shop there have actually had the Legendee and loved it. There are now almost 2000 outlets throught southeast Asia but still I can't find anybody in the USA importing it but me... but I assume the Vietnamese-American importers in California do import it, but they don't advertise... they distribute locally to Asian markets.

Yes, they do package it in a 100-gram bag (ground) that sells for $3.50. There is whole bean now also, which they haven't exported till this January.

I guess the real question is, would anybody be able to tell the real civet enzymes from the reproduction... enough to be worth $150 per pound. I don't know, having only had the Trung Nguyen. I will say that everybody who has tried it ranks it among their top few coffees they have ever tried... especially iced.

Also, keep in mind that there are a hundred small imitators who label some coffee civet coffee or variations of the theme, but TN is the first company to recreate the enzyme process, and Legendee is pretty well agreed to be the "real" simulation... if that makes any sense.

If you write to me @ lbrault@clockworkcommerce.com and mention this forum I would be glad to send you a sample, to anybody who is sincerely interested in it. I would be glad to get some expert opinions on it. Please don't pass that offer on to anyone outside of these forums...

 

[Susanto]

Why..people buy Luwak Coffee so expensive..out there. I have the real one from myown coffee farm at Lampung - Indonesia.., some people bought from me only US$55 /500 gr unroasted coffee beans..

 

[coffeetology girl]

Yes! There is such a coffee. We call it COFFEE ALAMID.

Hi!

I was able to encounter such a drink in the Philippines called COFFEE ALAMID.

Coffee Alamid is a blend of the four coffee varieties (arabica, robusta, exelsa, liberica) harvested in a peculiar manner --- the ripe coffee cherries are eaten, fermented in the digestive system, and excreted as whole beans by the Philippine civet cats (locally known as Alamid). The beans are then hand picked, washed, dried out in the sun then roasted, until the strong chocolaty aroma comes out.

Note: Civet cats, like panda bears, are clean animal. They only eat fruits from trees. So try this coffee and enjoy the exotic taste and strong chocolaty aroma.

For more information re COFFEE ALAMID and photo of PHIL CIVET CAT, go to our website below. Don't forget to use our search engine for easier find.

 

[Alun_evans]

Actually I hate to correct you, but Civets are not clean at all, rather notoriously dirty actually! They are omnivors, so they do not only eat coffee cherries, pepaya, mango etc...but also small rodents such as mice, birds and chicken eggs. This is one of the reasons Kopi Luwak- and the phillipine, Vietnamese and Ethiopean varients of teh same- can vary in cupping taste from a sweet fruitiness, to a strange gaminess. The Civet is perhaps most closely related to either the weasel or Mongoose- it is not large at all in Southeast Asia- about the size and shape of a weasel. In Ethiopia the civet actually is much larger, the size of a small dog. The result of size means the Southeast Asian civets can forage a range of foods. In villages they are seen as a pest, and I have had to convince village kids not to kill them when they catch sight of them. From my understanding probably Ethiopean Kopi Luwak (or what ever they call it), is most likely to be the purest- the animals do not range as far and are more likely to eat cherries alone.