This is a good point, and one RatuKopiLuwak obviously has tried to answer. As far as I am aware I dont know Ratu (or maybe I do-only she/he could tell me that!) so I can not comment on that companies method of sourcing / processing the coffee
Up until about 10 years ago, most Kopi Luwak was picked up in dropping form around the big government estates (mostly found in West, Central and East Java). The droppings are generally large, starshapped-with the appearance (but not taste) of peanut brittle! Things changed however. With the price of luwak driven up by demand mainly from the USA, someone decided to try and breed and keep civets in captivity- to try and produce kopi luwak in a factory kind of environment. As far as I am aware, most of these efforts have failed. The Civets (luwak) do not respond well to being kept in captivity, even if they have been raised from birth they are pretty wild creatures. Having been involved in a couple of documentaries on Luwak I must say some of those I saw kept in captivity did not look in great shape- stressed would be the word. Also cupping wild luwak vs captive luwak I can pick a difference in the cup for sure. The natural luwak having decidedly less acidity than that coming from captive luwaks. The famous Civet-ologist- Prof Massimo from University of Guelph in Canada has done some more specific research on this I think. From memory his test ("is it luwak or is it fake") shows far, far less pitting on coffee from captive luwaks than from those eating arabica/robusta on the wild. The pitting in someway may correspond to the length of time the coffee remains in the animals GI tracting- stressed animals will pass the coffee out faster than those that are eating cherries off the tree in the wild. The pitting is the effect of various acids on the coffee as it passes through the civet. It can only be picked up on unroasted green coffee using infrared microscopes....
Personally, I have tried luwak on many occasions from the farmers that I work with all over Indonesia. I amnever overly impressed. We carry about 20-30kg at all times, more because being an Indonesian coffee roaster I often get requests to try Kopi Luwak. Again (personal opinion) I cant say that I would pay the $ for luwak if I didnt have a plentiful supply of my own. I drink it rarely myself- I much prefer, and get my kicks, out of cupping the 100's of samples I get from coops, smallholders all over Indonesia and also Thailand and Malaysia.
In saying that, obviously the mystic of Luwak is a huge attraction to coffee drinkers world wide. A couple of years back I was exhibiting at teh Trieste Espresso Expo with a couple of guys from a Bandung (West Java Capital city) coffee company. We were doing our normal espresso blend and had a good deal of interest- however they were overwhelmed with interest and people, mainly Italian and European Coffee proffessionals, wanting to try their coffee.
Being coffee proffessionals we all have ethical standards that we have an obligation to uphold- whether that be people like myself as a roaster making sure we source coffee in a transparent way....or the cafe owners-chosing coffee based on traceability and/or the social impact buying a particular coffee may have on a small village growing community somewhere in the coffee world... or the customer, who ultimatley should be the one making sure they vote with their $ to ensure we all work together to make the coffee community a ethical place for all.
Rambling a bit- all I would say is companies that do the right thing in this more competitive and more consumer savy era are the ones that survive and prosper. I see many of those posting and contributing to coffeeforum.com and other coffee-centric forums and websites. Those that dont, are flash in the pan.
Great questions Phil. The process behind Ratu involves the civets being kept in free range living conditions so they're not held like battery hens. The are fed a varied diet to keep them healthy and not expected to dine on coffee cherries alone.
The Arabica cherries are grown and collected by the farmer then given to the animal however they will not eat rotten or unripe cherries and are said to only eat the ripest, sweetest fruit.
The coffee beans pass through the animal, then they're collected and washed by the farmer before the hard skin of the beans are stripped by hand. Next the beans are roasted using earthenware which results in a unique flavour.
If you are interested I can send you a sample.
