Kopi Luwak :)

[luwakcoffee]

PM me for truly coffee of wild luwak

 

[Pinkus]

cat poo

Hello. I'm from Australia and go to Bali quite a lot, so I drink Lewak coffee a lot too, and cheap (it's not so expensive over there). And yes it is nice. But it has less caffeine, so if you're into the hit that's something to think about. Apparently the lewak (AKA civet) absorbs some of the cafeine.
To add to the recommendations: if you drink coffee pods, the only company i've found who offer lewak kopi in pods is called cat poo chino dot com. It is fairly cheap considering what it costs when not in pods. I don't use a pod machine much but i got this more for the amusement of the name, as a gift.

 

[Pinkus]

Another thing to think about are animal treatment concerns. The civets or lewaks used to pick the best beans themselves, then eat them, then digest. That's why it was considered so good: they'd pick the best beans. These days, however, there are lots of civets in cages, and they don't get to pick -- they just eat what they are given.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

I've had the pleasure of tasting it a couple of weeks ago, I'm not a real expert since I'm used to drinking one type of basic coffee. But I have to say it tasted quite nice.
I did hear from a friend of mine that the Kopi Luwak is not produced as it should be.
The mammals used to pick the best berries to eat, now it are farms where the mammals just have to eat as much as possible.

I just started reading this thread, and I know this may come up again, but I just wanted to say that the ONLY reason one should pay the high price for the Kopi Luwak coffee is because the aspect of selection is the most important factor in the resulting brew. Civets are not rodents, nor are they primates...they are marsupials...not that that means a whole lot, it is just a point of accuracy. Civets eat coffee cherries, most likely because they find them very tasty. Maybe some of the civets will eat the unripened cherries, but most will not, and spit out the sour and defective cherries..or simply pick only the ripe ones. Once they are consumed, maybe some of the civets will spit out the coffee seed/bean, but many do not, and ingest the bean as well.
I imagine that back in the day when the Japanese people took a liking to civet coffee, it was because there weren't a lot of sources for coffee beans that selectively harvested only the ripe cherries, and the difference in taste was quite noticeable. With the rise in the popularity of specialty coffee, farmers are finally getting compensation for hand selecting ripe cherries for their better quality coffees, so it is possible to get excellent coffee without the assistance of the civet...but the myth, coupled with the expense, seems to suggest to the coffee connoisseur that they are getting something unique and substantially better than anything else available. Unique? Yes, but substantially better? Well that is a subjective opinion. I've tried Kopi Luwak, and found it to be a good, full bodied (due to location no doubt), smooth coffee...a coffee that should take it's place among the Blue Mountain & Kona's of the world, but not command the exorbitant prices it does. The only reason it is priced the way it is, is because of the myth, and the fact that the Japanese still hold onto this concept that there is no other coffee like it...well, maybe that is true. In my opinion, force feeding coffee cherries to civets in order to ethically refer to it as civet coffee, is comical. Some say the digestive process imparts a taste element into the bean that makes it taste the way it does, just like washed coffee or dry process coffee are different. Well, I had some, and like many on this thread...I wasn't impressed. The story is a good story, and I love the story, don't get me wrong. Ravensbrew in Alaska even has a t-shirt that shows someone pouring a cup of coffee from the backside of a civet while holding the tail like it was a beer tap handle, with the slogan "good to the last dropping"....I guess any serious coffee spaz like myself should at least experience the coffee, so put it on your bucket list!!

 

[Pinkus]

You don't have to pay a huge price for lewak coffee if you have it in Bali though. It's cheap over there. You can even buy it in boxes in supermarkets, and bring some back with you.

 

[ensoluna]

okay. good suggestions.
however, the Bali that you are talking about is in Indonesia?!

so, for the people living outside of the Bali, Indonesia, can we get there free of charge? like "Star trek beam me up scotty" thing?
if not, we got to fly over there to buy them which means it will be THE MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE EVER !

Also, I highly doubt that the KL selling in regular Supermarket will be 100% genuine real luwak coffee.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

Also, I highly doubt that the KL selling in regular Supermarket will be 100% genuine real luwak coffee.

Probably tastes like 'crap' compared to "100% genuine real luwak coffee"...just saying:-D

 

[Pinkus]

thanks for that link.

 

[luwakcoffee]

I recently sent luwak coffee to Israel but I faced difficulty. I did many time to US last years but I didnt find any trouble, but I don't know now. Any one experience this difficulty?

 

[Nav]

If the civet cats are not in the wild and are fed the beans instead, would the coffee taste as nice?

 

[ensoluna]

wild poop vs domesticated poop. poop is poop.
I never compared the taste but it should be the same.
about taste being "nice", honestly, I have tried it few times many years ago, now I can not even remember the taste....

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

If the civet cats are not in the wild and are fed the beans instead, would the coffee taste as nice?

This is actually a very good question. If we assume that we are talking about healthy, undomesticated wild animals, in their native habitats, and what happens when that wild animal is put in captivity, such as in a zoo, then there is enough documentation to assume that this animal will undergo some changes that will affect their behavior, digestion, and overall health. If the care of the animal is not properly managed, there is strong evidence that malnutrition and disease will harm or even kill it.

The answer to your question? It is my opinion that civets held in captivity, force fed coffee cherries, and not properly cared for, are not likely to produce the best civet coffee possible...this is just a guess. What I do know for certain is that civets are being exploited because consumers have made civet coffee a lucrative endeavor. I personally do not think that civet coffee is unique enough to justify what is happening.

 

[ensoluna]

This is actually a very good question. If we assume that we are talking about healthy, undomesticated wild animals, in their native habitats, and what happens when that wild animal is put in captivity, such as in a zoo, then there is enough documentation to assume that this animal will undergo some changes that will affect their behavior, digestion, and overall health. If the care of the animal is not properly managed, there is strong evidence that malnutrition and disease will harm or even kill it.

yeah, Mr. Peaberry. you are right! I just remembered some documentary movie about this kind of matters. I remember seeing Japanese Kobe cows being massaged, fed beers to relax them. Also remember about Factory Grown chickens vs. organically grown. Definitely, there are differences in the quality of meats.

however, in poops?!!!
Come to think of it, probably, there IS some differences between them. But I try not to think about it so much, ha ha ha... just sayin' Doug

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

It's a mental image, Alex, that could take lots of therapy and money to erase...just sayin'....:roll:

 

[ensoluna]

It's a mental image, Alex, that could take lots of therapy and money to erase...just sayin'....:roll:

Doug, by the way, have you seen them IN PERSON? I mean the "poops!".
for me, I have seen them in 3 different countries.

there was a Specialty coffee shop selling Luwak in Cerritos, CA which went out of business in less than a year.
Another one in ZhongShan, china Downtown (where I am staying at this moment). I go there just for Americano, but hardly anyone, I mean.. no one is there. probably losing money hand over fist, but they might be just "washing money" which is very common in China.

and about 10 years ago, when I was in Jakarta, Indonesia, my customer (electronic business, not coffee) took me to few shop that carry this coffee.

all of those shops (including China & Cerritos) had very nice display of the luwak poops, some in mason jars and some on nice china plate with photos of happy looking civet cats, explanation of how good and rare they are...etc
I remember that in Jakarta, if you want, you could even touch and smell them... yuck !

However, I kind of wonder that those poops are even real!
you could feed some coffee cherries to your dogs or turkey... and viola!
or just hand-mix the normal green beans with any kind of poops and fabricate them????!!!! you never know.....

All in the name of Marketing and sales!