By Thierry Prieux and Jean-Christophe Canadas; english version; July 2018
(Original text published in french version on the AICMC Website; March 2014)
The most expensive and for some the best coffee in the world:…..
It’s dung at the price of truffles …….
Incredible but true, the best coffee in the world is harvested in the excrement of an Asian civet, the luwak (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus).
This little beast feeds exclusively on coffee cherries, but rejects the grains, which it can not digest.
These are therefore flavored with the digestive enzymes of its digestive tract, which give them a delicate sweet aroma, between cocoa and hazelnut.
Historical events
The story of this coffee is amazing to say the least, because it still needed a great desire to recover coffee beans in excrement.
In the 16th century Indonesia is invaded by the Dutch (especially the islands of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Bali).
The Dutch plantation owners do not want the locals working in their plantations to drink coffee, to avoid theft and pilfering.
But the locals who have the urge to do as the « whites » realize that there are coffee beans in the feces of an animal, a civet that is called in Indonesia the Luwak so they will recover them , wash them and roast the kopi (coffee in Indonesian) luwak (from the name of the civet) was born.
The luwak
The luwak is a kind of big asian cat of the family of the civet, it is a small animal with short legs and with a long tail, a mixture of marten and cat.
This hermaprodite palm-leaf civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) enjoys a very special status in view of its role in the production of coffee …
This is not however what gave it its Latin name of « hermaphrodite paradox » that it rather, it is due to the presence of testicular-like sweat glands in both males and females.
It is an animal that lives primarily at night, quite lonely and omnivorous. He enjoys insects, small mammals but has a penchant for fruits, mangos, and what he particularly likes are coffee cherries.
He loves them so much that for years the coffee producers considered him predators and therefore made war on him. The luwak was the enemy of the plantations in which he caused some damage, now he is the guest …
The luwak is a sleepy and lethargic animal and spends its day sleeping and the peak of its activity takes place at night.
Each luwak feeds on about 1 kg of coffee cherries daily which at the exit provides a total of about 50 g of grain.
This animal thus feeds on coffee cherries, but it intelligently selects the most mature and the most perfumed, that is to say contrary to the coffee pickers, it knows how to appreciate with the eyes and also with the nose, thus helping that kopi luwak is the best coffee in the world.
Process
As we have seen above, the animal will select with the help of its flair, the best berries, the most mature and will swallow them.
Once in the stomach, digestion will be done, and the enzymes will come into action.The animal will digest the pulp of the coffee cherry but not the kernel (the coffee bean), which it will reject in its excrement.
It is here that the role of the civet stops in the creation of the kopi luwak and begins the intervention of the man.
Les excréments de la civette vont être tout d’abord recueillis sur la plantation, puis ils vont faire l’objet de nettoyage.
The excrement of the civet will be collected first on the plantation, then they will be the object of cleaning.
In the first place we will crumble the stool collected to separate the grains of excrement.
Then these coffee beans will be washed several times, then dried quickly by means of a hot blower, so as to avoid any fermentation with moisture that may result from washing.
Finally comes the stage of roasting, although all stages are important, roasting is a key element in the process, because the appearance, taste, aroma and body are acquired by roasting grains.
The coffee must be roasted at a temperature between 220 and 230 degrees centigrade and cooled rapidly to stop the roasting process, to allow the aroma to be fixed and get that very special taste of dark chocolate, clove, smell of musk and argan that will make the best coffee in the world.
Counterfeits
Where there is luxury, there is copy, and for many there is money easy to do with the credulity and ignorance of some.
It’s hard unless you’re a specialist to tell the difference between a fake kopi luwak and a real kopi luwak.
We must first understand that in Indonesia the government is not as strict as in France and that it has not or does not give the real means to fight against counterfeiting.
There are several forms of fake kopi luwak:
The real fake:
an ordinary coffee bean that we will sell you as the best coffee in the world and at a good price (in some cases flavored with chocolate to make more true).
Half false:
we will mix some kopi luwak grains with common coffee.
The slight fake:
the process is well respected, it is actually civets that swallow before expelling the coffee beans, the difference only comes from the fact that these animals are in captivity so we give them a dish of coffee cherries to eat.
And all the difference is in this dish,
in freedom the luwak will choose with his nose, his flair and his view, the best coffee cherries, so there is a selection of made, while in captivity the coffee berries given to the civet to eat, are chosen by the man and the sight is the only sense which takes into account to choose the berries.
It is estimated that at present the global production capacity is of the order of less than a ton per year, so we are entitled to ask many questions when we see all these pounds on sale everywhere.
In the slight fake there is not really scam, just a final quality of the product significantly lower than it should be.
Certificates of authenticity:
The certificate is issued only if a sample of a specific crop is sent to the SUCOFINDO laboratory in Jakarta.
Once evaluated, the laboratory issues a certificate stating that the sample received from kopi luwak is 100% pure.
But then, there is no guarantee on sale that the harvest of the sample analyzed will indeed be composed of pure kopi luwak.
The authorities have no power to monitor or control resellers’ working methods.
Many companies also unfortunately create their own certificates. It is customary to note that they all look different.
Conclusion :
If you want to drink a real kopi luwak, it is better to go to Indonesia and drink it in a plantation.
The world production of the real kopi luwak does not exceed one ton per year, so the price can only be very high, usually around 1000 euros per kilogram or 250 euros ($290 / £ 220) per 250 gr.
And the price of the « little black » (=espresso) is dreamy, a single cup can cost from 15 to 40 euros … and even up to 70 euros! ($80 / £ 60)
Any package sold at a lower price or so-called promotion can only be fake.
So… Will you take a cup of kopi luwak ?…
Thierry Prieux et Jean Christophe Cañadas
Source:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak
http://www.cafekopiluwak.ca
http://kopi-luwak.eu/lacivettekopiluwak.html