Kopi Luwak 756653 226179353 2008-07-17T05:00:29Z Jamesoclark 6593162 Added in the On TV Shows section where Bizarre Foods does a segment on the coffee while shooting in Vietnam [[Image:SUC58185.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Eliminated luwak coffee berries, [[East Java]]]] '''Kopi Luwak''' ({{Pronounced|ˈkopi ˈluwak}}) or '''Civet coffee''' is [[coffee]] made from [[coffea|coffee berries]] which have been eaten by and passed through the [[digestive tract]] of the [[Asian Palm Civet]] (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''). The civets eat the berries, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested. This process takes place on the islands of [[Sumatra]], [[Java (island)|Java]] and [[Sulawesi]] in the [[Indonesia]]n Archipelago, in the [[Philippines]] (where the product is called ''Kape Alamid'') and in [[East Timor]] (locally called ''kafé-laku''). [[Vietnam]] has a similar type of coffee, called '''weasel coffee''', which is made from coffee berries which have been defecated by local [[weasel]]s. In actuality the "weasel" is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet. ==Origin and production== ''Kopi'' is the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] word for coffee, and ''luwak'' is a local name of the [[Asian Palm Civet]]. The raw, red coffee berries are part of its normal diet, along with [[insect]]s, small [[mammal]]s, small [[reptile]]s, eggs and nestlings of [[bird]]s, and other [[fruit]]. The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it has been proposed that [[enzyme]]s in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavor by breaking down the [[protein]]s that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are [[eliminated]] still covered in some inner layers of the berry. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process. Some sources claim that the beans may be regurgitated instead of defecated. In early days, the beans would be collected in the wild from a 'latrine', or a specific place where the civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory, and these latrines would be a predictable place for local gatherers to find the beans. More commonly today, captured civets are fed raw berries, the [[feces]] produced are then processed and the coffee beans offered for sale.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} ==Economics== Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $120 and $600 [[United States dollar|USD]] per pound, and is sold mainly in [[Japan]] and the [[United States]]. It is increasingly becoming available elsewhere, though supplies are limited: only {{convert|1000|lb}} at most make it into the world market each year (Pg 23, The Gospel According to Starbucks; Sweet). One small cafe, the [[Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms|Heritage Tea Rooms]], in the hills outside [[Townsville, Queensland|Townsville]] in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]] has Kopi Luwak coffee on the menu at [[Australian dollar|A$]]50.00 (=US$48.00) per cup, selling approximately four cups a week, which has gained nationwide Australian press.[http://www.heritagetearooms.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=31]. In April 2008, the brasserie of Peter Jones department store in London's [[Sloane Square]] starting selling a blend of Kopi Luwak and [[Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee|Blue Mountain]] called Caffe Raro for £50 (=US$99.00) a cup.<ref>[http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/drink/story/0,,2272803,00.html The Guardian] - The £50 espresso</ref> A 2004 [[Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome]] (SARS) scare led to thousands of these civets in [[China]] being exterminated, <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3409359.stm BBC] - 'Civet coffee' sells - despite SARS</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3405493.stm BBC] - China confirms two new SARS cases</ref> but the demand for the coffee was not affected. ==Research== {{refimprovesect|date=July 2008}} A hypothesis to justify this coffee's reputation proposes that the beans are of superior quality before they are even ingested.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} At any given point during a harvest, some coffee berries are not quite- or over-ripe, while others are just right. The palm civet evolved as an omnivore that naturally eats fruit and passes undigested material as a natural link to disperse seeds in a forest ecosystem. Where coffee plants have been introduced into their habitat, civets only forage on the most ripe berries, digest the fleshy outer layer, and later excrete the seeds eventually used for human consumption. Thus, when the fruit is at its peak, the seeds (or beans) within are equally so, with the expectation that this will come through in the taste of a freshly-brewed cup. As this may be true for the beans derived from wild-collected civet feces, farm raised civets are likely fed beans of varying quality and ripeness, so one would expect the taste of farm-raised beans to be less. ==In the movies== In 2007's ''[[The Bucket List]]'', starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, Kopi Luwak is the beverage of choice of Nicholson's character, who repeatedly praises it as the best cup of coffee in the world. In a climactic and humorous moment near the end of the film, Freeman's character finally reveals what he has always known regarding the source of the fine coffee, to the dismay of Nicholson's character. ==On TV Shows== Featured on Travel Channel show Bizarre Foods - Vietnam. Host Andrew Zimmern visits Hanoi in Vietnam and drinks Civet coffee and explains the process by which the beans are gathered from the Asian Palm Civet droppings and turned into coffee. ==See also== ''Kopi Muncak'' (also ''Kopi Muntjak'') is a similar type of coffee produced from the feces of several species of barking deer, or [[Muntjac]], that are found throughout [[Southeast Asia]]. Unlike civet or "weasel" coffee, this type is usually not produced from captive deer and most commonly collected in the wild, especially in [[Malaysia]] and in the [[Indonesia]]n Archipelago. == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * [http://www.uoguelph.ca/research/news/articles/2002/purr-fect_cup.shtml University of Guelph article on the effects of the digestive system on coffee beans] * [http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/bericht-31682.html Report on Guelph research] * [http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-01-20-civet-coffee_x.htm ''USA Today'' article on civet coffee] * http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/legendee.html Article on synthetic civet coffee * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3409359.stm BBC Civet coffee selling well despite SARS] * [http://www.cbc.ca/stories/print/2002/09/13/Consumers/catcoffee_020913 cbc.ca article on "cat poop coffee"] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4896230.stm BBC report In the Philippines] * [http://abc.net.au/foreign/content/2007/s2027610.htm Foreign Correspondent - 11/09/2007: Sumatra - Extreme Coffee], ABC Australia television broadcast on ''[[Foreign Correspondent (TV program)|Foreign Correspondent]]'' {{coffee}} [[Category:Coffee]] [[Category:Indonesian words and phrases]] [[Category:Economy of East Timor]] [[Category:Economy of Indonesia]] [[Category:Economy of the Philippines]] [[de:Kopi Luwak]] [[es:Kopi Luwak]] [[fa:کوپی لواک]] [[id:Kopi luwak]] [[it:Kopi Luwak]] [[lv:Kopi Luwak]] [[nl:Kopi Loewak]] [[ja:コピ・ルアク]] [[no:Kopi Luwak]] [[pl:Kopi luwak]] [[pt:Kopi Luwak]] [[ru:Копи Лювак]] [[sl:Kopi luwak]] [[sv:Kopi Luwak]] [[tet:Kafé-laku]] [[vi:Kopi Luwak]]