What Is All The Hype About Kopi Luwak Coffee

By Author: Vikram Kuamr
Total Articles: 2912
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If you are a fan of gourmet coffee you have probably heard some of the hype surrounding kopi luwak coffee. Kopi luwak coffee, or kopi luwak as it is also known, is some of the world's most expensive coffee. It can often command prices of over one hundred dollars US per pound of beans. Individual cups may be even more expensive and drinking kopi luwak has become a status symbol around the world.

But where does kopi luwak coffee come from and why is it so expensive and rare? The answer to all of these questions is the same. The reason why kopi luwak coffee is so expensive and rare is simply due to the way that it is produced. Unlike regular coffee, kopi luwak coffee depends on a little help from the luwak, or civet to make the beans as flavorful and delicious as they are.

The civet is a small mammal which lives in Indonesia where kopi luwak coffee comes from. If you have never seen one, you may be reminded of a weasel or a cat but they are most similar in habits and diet to the North American raccoon. They eat insects as well as small mammals. They also love to eat coffee berries. It was found that civet droppings ...
... contained undigested coffee beans although the fruit which surrounded it was often fully or partially digested.

When the kopi luwak coffee beans travel through the digestive system of the civet, they undergo a few crucial changes. They are affected by enzymes which break down certain proteins in the kopi luwak beans. These proteins are what cause the beans to become bitter if they are roasted and brewed into coffee. Because the kopi luwak coffee beans are not as bitter they do not need to be roasted as much and this makes for a very delicate and popular flavor.

Originally, kopi luwak coffee was very hard to produce. Because the civets lived in the wild it was difficult to find their droppings. The good news for the farmers and the coffee drinkers alike is that the civets would often leave their droppings in specific areas. This is because they were marking their territory and left the droppings as a way of doing so. The areas where the kopi luwak coffee beans were being left are known as latrines.

Now, however, kopi luwak farmers have ways of dealing with this. They now allow the civets to wander around enclosed areas and offer them ripe coffee berries to eat. Because they are not wandering all over the place it is much easier for the kopi luwak farmers to find the droppings and harvest a larger amount of them. But, since ultimate production is still up to the civets you will find that kopi luwak coffee is still rare and much more expensive than any other kind of coffee on the market.

If you are a fan of excellent coffee you need to try kopi luwak. The flavour is amazing and you will not believe how much it is improved by a little digesting.

Author Bio.

If you have decided it is time to try kopi luwak coffee, the next step is finding a place where you can purchase it. To help you find kopi luwak to buy you need to visit EKopiLuwak today.