What is Indonesian Kopi Luwak/Civet Coffee?

Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation), or civet coffee, is one of the world's most expensive and low-production varieties of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Indonesian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract.

A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee.

Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra (Lampung, Aceh, etc), Java (east, and west), Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago.

The origin of Kopi Luwak is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop plantations in their colony in Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen.

During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830—1870), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers to pick coffee fruits for their own use. Yet the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian Palm Civet) consumed these coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings.

The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage. The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon become their favorite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even in colonial times.

Why Kopi Luwak is becoming The Most Expensive Coffee in the World?

Kopi Luwak coffee is totally different from common coffee. Kopi Luwak coffee beans have a limited number; moreover the kopi luwak coffee that produce by the wild civet coffee. Indonesian civet is not a coffee machine that can produce according to the number we want. For the Indonesian civet, the coffee is just as the dessert course. The civets only pick the best of the best coffee beans. When the ripe coffee beans are provided to the Indonesian civets in a tray, they will only take 10-30% only.

Since the civet is consumed the best coffee beans, the coffee beans are issued through civet feces, is the best too. Coffee beans through a process of natural fermentation in the civet’s stomach. The Civets digestion is quite unique, it can not digest grain that has the certain highest density, and one of it is coffee beans. So that the coffee beans that come out together in civets feces were still intact.

The qualities of coffee beans that come through the civet’s fermentation have the same quality as coffee beans that have been in ferment for 5-8 years. If you have been to Bandung, you will find a very famous coffee shop called Aroma Coffee. That cafe is selling coffee beans that had been in fermented for 3-5 years, so it can produce extraordinary flavor and aroma, and his prices were pretty expensive. Quality of Coffee aroma can be defeated only by the kopi luwak that can be produce in a short time (we don’t have to wait for 5-8 years for 1kg of Kopi Luwak).

Kopi Luwak has limited quantity. Unlike the regular coffee which can produce tons of coffee on the harvesting time. One captive breeding farm or one plantation is only able to produce Kopi Luwak at most 100kg - 1000kg. If you wanted to produces civet coffee in large quantities, you must combine all coffee farmers in one area, to accumulated kopi luwak. But that's not more than 1 ton. 

Original Kopi Luwak is also safe to people with heart disease, gastric ulcers, and diabetics problem. It has caffeine content below 0.5%. Regular coffee has caffeine content more than 2%, fermentation of the stomach can break down proteins in kopi luwak so that it can drastically reduce caffeine and produces an extraordinary sense of aroma.

Mengapa kopi luwak mahal?

Kopi Luwak berbeda dari kopi pada umum nya. Kopi Luwak memiliki jumlah yang terbatas, apalagi kopi luwak liar. Luwak bukanlah mesin yang dapat menghasilkan kopi sesuai dengan jumlah yang kita inginkan. Bagi luwak, kopi itu hanya sebagai pencuci mulut saja. Luwak hanya memilih biji kopi terbaik dari yang terbaik. Ketika biji kopi matang di berikan kepada luwak dalam satu nampan, paling-paling luwak hanya akan memakan 10-30% saja.

Karena yang dikonsumsi luwak adalah biji kopi terbaik, maka hasil biji kopi yang dikeluarkan melalui feses luwak pun merupakan yang terbaik. Biji kopi melalui proses fermentasi alami di dalam perut luwak. Pencernaan luwak ini cukup unik, luwak tidak bisa mencerna biji-bijian yang memiliki tingkat kepadatan tertentu, salah satunya adalah biji kopi. Sehingga biji kopi yang keluar bersama dalam feses luwak pun masih utuh.

Kualitas biji kopi yang berasal melalui fermentasi luwak sama kualitasnya dengan biji kopi yang telah di fermentasi selama 5-8 tahun. Jika anda pernah ke Bandung, disana anda akan menemukan warung kopi yang sangat terkenal bernama Kopi Aroma. Cafe tersebut menjual biji kopi yang telah di fermentasi selama 3-5 tahun, sehingga dapat menghasilkan rasa dan aroma yang luar biasa, dan harga nya pun lumayan mahal. Kualitas sehebat itu bisa dikalahkan oleh kopi luwak yang dapat dihasilkan dalam waktu singkat.

Kopi luwak memiliki jumlah yang terbatas. Tidak seperti kopi biasa yang dapat menghasilkan berton ton kopi ketika panen. Kopi Luwak paling-paling hanya mampu menghasilkan 100kg – 1000kg saja untuk satu penangkaran atau area perkebunan. Jika ingin menghasilkan kopi luwak dalam jumlah banyak, kita harus menggabungkan seluruh petani kopi di satu daerah tersebut dengan cara plasma, agar kopi luwak yang terkumpul bisa berjumlah banyak. Itupun biasa nya tidak lebih dari 1 ton (1000kg).

Kopi luwak asli juga aman diminum untuk penderita jantung, maag, dan diabetes. Kopi luwak memiliki kandungan kafein dibawah 0,5%. Kopi biasa memiliki kandungan kafein lebih dari 2%. Fermentasi dari dalam perut luwak mampu menguraikan  protein dalam kopi sehingga dapat mengurangi kafein secara drastis dan menghasilkan rasa sekaligus aroma yang luar biasa.