Are you curious enough to try out a cup of civet cat coffee from beans harvested from the animal’s manure? For many coffee aficionados, the answer is a resounding yes! For many however, just the word dung is more than enough to put them off this product. But civet coffee enthusiasts say that you only have to drink it once to be converted.
Civet coffee is one of the world’s rarest and most expensive coffees, and it is produced in Southeast Asia and some parts of China. You may know it by another name, such as kopi luwak in Indonesia, and kape alamid in the Philippines. It is so called because the beans are taken from the dung of the Asian Palm Civet, also referred to as the civet cat, which is a member of the mongoose family. The civet cats polish off the ripest coffee berries, and the beans are partially digested in their stomachs before being excreted whole into the ground. Since the civet cats tend to use the same places to mark with their dung, the farmers have no trouble finding and collecting these coffee beans. The harvested beans go through processing, which involves a meticulous washing, sun drying, and roasting. This process is said to get rid of any germs on the coffee beans.
It is not unusual to find a combination of Liberica, Exelsa, Robusta and Arabica coffee varieties making up each batch of civet coffee, depending on what the animal ate. According to one study, the enzymes in the civet cat’s digestive tract augment the flavors of the different coffee varieties. When brewed, civet coffee has been described as thick and aromatic, and the taste is said to be smooth, sweet, slightly dark and chocolatey. Unlike other coffees, civet coffee is does not have that sharp, pungent aftertaste.
Civet coffee is harvested by hand, and taken from droppings found in the wild, so only about 2000 kilos are made annually. Apparently, some efforts were made to rear the civet cats in a farm setting, but they did not produce as much, making the venture non-viable. Thus, the supply will always remain low.
Civet coffee has found a dedicated following among coffee lovers in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and other parts of the world. Prices for this rare food item can go as steep as 100 dollars for 100 grams, or about $30 per cup, mostly due to minimal and labor intensive production. If you are interested in trying out some civet coffee, you can purchase both ground or whole roasted beans in selected cafes, in some Asian markets, or in online stores. But beware, there are many imitation or adulterated civet coffee beans in the market today, so make sure to shop around for a reputable store before making a purchase.