Civet Coffee aka kopi Luwak

I was able to get hold of some Civet coffee beans and was able to produce some 600 grams of coffee powder. Can you believe 600 grams when a kg of this exotic beans are priced $ 350 and above (US$33.00) per cup. The beans were painstakingly collected over a span of 1 year. The worst part is, the beans are not available throughout the year, You get it when it rains. And secondly thou coffee is extensively grown in chikamaglur, civets are more common in coorg. A very good friend of mine has an estate in coorg and thanks to them that they collected the beans for me.

This rare coffee has the distinction of being consumed before the connoisseur has even taken a sip. The palm civet (Kaadu bekhu/Mungusi), a cat-like animal also called a luwak, ingests fresh coffee cherries but doesn't digest the beans inside. The civet smells & eats the ripest and tastiest of the berries. After the beans pass through the civet's digestive system, The dung is collected and bean are washed and dried. Supposedly, the civet's digestive enzymes make the beans less acidic, improving the coffee's flavor. Most of the beans that are collected in Indonesia are exported and in India the beans are never bothered.

Well getting it roasted is a difficult job, it should not be microwaved. And there is also a risk of civet powder getting mixed with other powder if you get it done outside. My mom hand roasted the beans in a vessel with sand in it to get the right color. Once done it was grinded in a Mixer. We did not mix any chicory and the coffee was prepared the way a filter coffee is prepared.

I thought a civet coffee party (Coffee with Chandan) would be a good reason to invite people home and the party was yesterday. It was fun and everyone loved the coffee. It is very smooth and the aroma was heady. The flavor remains on your tounge for hours if you dont eat anything in between. Its not just me, everyone had some really good opinion about it. I still have some powder left, any coffee lover in Bangalore can drop in and have a cup for free. Do E Mail me before 03.07.09 and you 'll hav to give me one good reason for why I should invite you.

P.S. My mom told me lately that my granddad had a coffee farm long back and those were the days when money was hard to come by. All the produce were sold. However they were using civet beans at their place as they were considered to be of the lowest quality and did not hav any market value then. Just imagine, my mom and uncles grew up drinking civet coffee every day. The beans are called hanuklu in kannada