Luwak Coffee, The Most Expensive Coffee in the World

Luwak

The origin of luwak coffee is closely related to the history of coffee cultivation in Indonesia. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Dutch opened commercial plantations in their colonies in the Dutch East Indies mainly on the islands of Java and Sumatra. One of them is an arabica coffee plantation with seeds imported from Yemen. In the era of "Forced Cultivation" or Cultuurstelsel (1830-1870), the Dutch forbade indigenous plantation workers picking coffee fruit for personal consumption, but locals wanted to try the famous coffee drink. Then the plantation worker finally discovered that there was a kind of ferret that liked to eat coffee, but only the flesh was digested, the epidermis and the coffee beans were intact and undigested. Coffee beans in civet droppings are then collected, washed, roasted, crushed, then brewed with hot water, then created kopi luwak. The news about the enjoyment of aromatic coffee is finally smelled by the Dutch owners of plantations, then this coffee became a favorite of the Dutch rich. Due to its scarcity and unusual manufacturing process, Luwak coffee is an expensive coffee since colonial times.

Civet, or complete weasel mongoose, happy to find fruits that are quite good and cooked including coffee as a food. With their sensitive sense of smell, the mongoose will choose perfectly mature coffee fruits as its food, and afterwards, coffee beans that are still protected by hard and undigested skin will come out with civet droppings. This happens because the mongoose has a simple digestive system, so hard foods such as coffee beans are not digested. Luwak coffee beans like this, in the past until now often hunted coffee farmers, because it is believed to come from the best coffee beans and has been fermented naturally in the digestive system mongoose. The aroma and taste of Luwak coffee tastes special and perfect among fans and coffee lovers around the world.