Kopi Luwak – Civet Coffee

Kopi Luwak, also known as Civet Coffee, is the most expensive (and connoisseurs say the best tasting) coffee in the world , retailing for between £100 – £300 per lb. The high cost of the coffee is due in part to its scarcity, only around 500 kgs of kopi luwak (civet coffee) beans are produced each year in its home of Indonesia. This makes the coffee the rarest and hence the most exclusive coffee in the world!

The majority of the 500 kgs produced is sold in the US and Japan, but increasingly the coffee can be found outside of these two countries. Supplies in the UK are still very limited but one major online retailer, Firebox sells bags of Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee).

To see this product at Firebox click HERE

The reason for the rarity of kopi luwak is due to the process by which it is produced. The coffee beans are picked by locals from the faeces of Asian Civet Cat, the cats having eaten the ripe coffee berries as part of their normal diet. The civet cats tend to defecate in the same area, using this to mark their territory, which means that it is relatively easy for the locals to find them.

Kopi Luwak literally translates as Civet Cat Coffee, “Kopi” meaning coffee and “Luwak” being the local name for Civet Cats. This unusual nature of the coffee has resulted in Kopi Luwak also being called cat poo coffee, cat poop coffee, cat shit coffee, cat excrement coffee and various other similar names!

In April 2008, civet coffee mixed with the exclusive Jamaican blue mountain coffee was being sold in the brasserie of Peter Jones in Sloan Square for £50 a cup. The espresso, named Caffe Raro, was sold for one month only with the profits from its sale being donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

If you would like to try another unusual coffee then firebox also sell weasel coffee – which is made from beans which have been regurgitated by, you have guessed it, weasels.  The link can be found HERE