Robusta Dark Roast, Luwak Coffee

Blind Assessment: Evaluated as espresso. As a drip coffee fell quite short of 80. As espresso revealed some virtues. In the aroma sweet-toned with distinct chocolate and butter notes. In the small cup medium bodied, round-toned and sweet, with earth, aromatic wood and herbal notes (I read fennel) and hints of nut and chocolate. The finish was simple in the short and mildly astringent in the long. Surprisingly disappointing in milk: leanish in mouthfeel with banana and chocolate in front but a slight though disturbing note toward the finish that for me suggested salted meat.

Notes: A robusta species version of the famous (or infamous) Kopi Luwak, the world's most expensive coffee. The beans are harvested from the feces of a species of civet cat resident in Indonesia that eats ripe coffee fruit. None of the luwaked robustas we sampled for this set of reviews made attractive drip coffees; in fact, most were hardly drinkable. However, this very dark-roasted kopi luwak robusta produced an interesting if uneven espresso. Animalcoffee is a direct supplier, roaster and Internet retailer of kopi luwak with offices in Sumatra and Bali, Indonesia and Australia. Its impressive website offers well-written and colorfully illustrated answers to most questions about kopi luwak. Apparently coffee orders are custom roasted based on customer brewing method and preference. Visit www.animalcoffee.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It: Curiosity seekers with money and a good home espresso machine.

Kopi Luwak coffee

Kopi Luwak coffee, also known as Civet coffee or Kape Alamid, is coffee made from the poop of a Palm Civet. Kopi = coffee, Luwak = Palm Civet.

Yep, that’s right, it’s coffee that has passed through the digestive tract of the cat-sized mammal common in the Philippines & Vietnam. The Palm Civet will eat the coffee berries, and the beans pass through undigested.

The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it is believed that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee’s flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are excreted still covered in some inner layers of the cherry, and locals then gather them and sell them to dealers. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors which develop through the whole process. – Wikipedia

Why would anyone drink Kopi Luwak?

That I cannot answer. And yet, it is the single most expensive coffee in the world, selling at $75 USD per quarter pound.

The coffee is popular in the US and Japan, and is now available online. I’ve no personal interest in trying it, but if you do – go for it.