Kopi Lwak.....translated as Palm Civet Coffee.....or popularly known as Weasel Coffee is not your ordinary coffee. It is made with coffee beans that have passed through the digestive tract of a weasel or palm civet. The rather ugly-looking pests have a love for ripe red coffee beans but the latter pass undigested through their system. This process is supposed to take away the bitterness from the coffee and give it a musky flavour. I first heard of this coffee and of its being the most expensive coffee in the world sometime last year....and my first reaction was "yuk...why would someone pay so much for shit coffee"! Yeah.....that was my name for it for a long time.
Until a friend that traveled to Vietnam brought me back some Kopi Luwak. It's not something that I would have sought out but since it came to me, I didn't mind trying it. Nonetheless, every time I looked at it....the words 'shit coffee' kept spinning in my head! It was staring at me from my shelf for about a month....as if daring me to try it......before I mustered the courage to make myself a cup. I mean....it would be something similar to having milk, right?
Well....right or wrong, I overcame my fear and tried some Kopi Luwak. Yes, I started calling it by its proper name. The coffee was a little coarser in texture than other coffees, and smelt quite strong. I was told by my friend that you're supposed to have this coffee with condensed milk. I did taste the coffee before adding the condensed milk, and I could immediately discern a hint of vanilla and it definitely lacked the inherent bitterness of coffee. I'm not sure about the muskiness, but it was indeed an interesting and smooth coffee.
I later read online that there are many fake versions of this coffee being sold in South-East Asia, where the whole process is synthetically replicated....thus simulating the effect of the beans passing through the weasel's body. I don't know whether the coffee I have is authentic or not....but it was definitely a unique-flavoured one.
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I received a chain mail long back about this 'shit' coffee, but I passed it off as a bogus mail..Good to see that you mustered the courage to try it...it must be one special coffee..
ReplyDeleteYeah...it is quite incredible...easy to think someone's pulling a fast one on u!
ReplyDeleteDelighted to have discovered your blog! Look forward to exploring :-)
ReplyDeleteRobyn
Thanks Robyn! Look forward to having you around! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is quite unusual, but a good information. Nice to be here. Came from Meeta's blog. Following you to get more of such information. Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteThank You Sanjeeta! :)
ReplyDeleteYou're right....it is quite unsual. You should try it whenever you get a chance!
Hah, not only loved this post, but loved findin an Indian blog too:-)
ReplyDeleteA wonderful one!!
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Hah, not only loved this post, but loved findin an Indian blog too:-)
ReplyDeleteA wonderful one!!
India aint exactly a haven for findn that ingrdnt or a microplane or silpat or parchment paper, but oh Now u can, and so easily find everything at ur doorstep,whatever u liked from Amazon can now be urs!!!
If ur as excited as i am,hop by here for more excting details and no aint a spokes gal for any company:-))
http://brightmorningstarsfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/06/loot-pretty-stuff-and-blogger.html
Hi SPF.....you're absolutely right! Very difficult to find that kind of stuff in India. R u from here as well? I just glanced through ur post on shopyourworld.....is it for real? Have u used it?
ReplyDeleteI love drinking coffee and have tasted different brands from all over the world. Never heard of this one. Will see if i can find...will try for sure...even if it's not that great.
ReplyDeletecivet coffee or kopi luwak is produced by an animal called civet or in Indonesia it's called luwak which eat coffee beans. Civet only eat the best coffee beans and they have a special sense to know which are the best bean from coffee tree. The bean will be fermented in Luwak's stomach with certain enzyme. no such technology in this world like luwak has. and that's makes kopi luwak very special. luwak only eat the flesh of the bean, not the bean. The bean came out as luwak shit in deed. these bean will be processed again in order to clean up the bean and change it into a very expensive and delicious coffee in the world. it's healthy, clean... and of course, the real taste of coffee. Trust me... and try it. :)
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of fake replicas of kopi luwak coffee, charging a whole lot more expensive than the real kopi luwak coffee beans. That's just sad. Once you taste the real one, it is just sweet and aromatic. it smells like coffee but it doesn't taste like one.
ReplyDeleteSuryana is a big producer of luwak “chivet” coffee in Indonesia. We own more than 150 chivets ‘cat’. We produce 5 kgs luwak coffee bean a day in average. We are ready to supply any demand from all over the world and we quarante that our luwak coffee products is originally fermented by luwak . To ensure that, we issue a certificate of quarantee for every product we release to buyers.
ReplyDelete