Kopi Luwak coffee is brewed using coffee beans taken from the remaining dirt mongoose / palm civet. Coffee beans are believed to have a different flavor after being eaten and passed through the digestive tract mongoose. This coffee fame in the Southeast Asian region has long been known, but only became widely known in the gourmet coffee enthusiast after publication in the 1980s. The beans are the most expensive in the world, reaching $ 100 per 450 grams.
History
refers to the seeds of coffee berries once they have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet.
The name is also used for marketing brewed coffee made from the beans.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat coffee berries containing better beans. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten.
The civet eats the berries for the beans' fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet's Protease enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated with other fecal matter and collected.
Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world with retail prices reaching
Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago.