Kopi Luwak: Popular in the Philippines

Indonesia has some surprising food products and after travelling to Semarang in Central Java I discovered a new one. Kopi Luwak. A luwak is an animal called a palm civet, native to Java and Sumatra. The cat-like creature partly resembles a monkey and has a brown coat and a white belly. It climbs into the branches of the coffee trees and selects ripened beans. After the undigested beans pass through the animal they possess a unique flavour when brewed. The intestinal juices of the Luwak partly ferment and marinate the beans. When a Javanese person tells you their coffee tastes like ass, they are not kidding.

The Luwak is said to be constantly buzzed caused by the fermenting palm leaves it prefers to eat. I know there are other coffees around the world that reach high prices due to their uniqueness and quality like Kenyan or Kona coffee from Hawaii. Kopi Luwak is actually rarer than any of these others because of the small amounts that can be produced. Zultani Ade, who is the head of marketing for the Indonesian Coffee Exporters Association says that only 1,000kgs a year are produced.

A BBC article talks about how villagers in the Philippines are also partial to this rare type of coffee. The luwak, is known locally as an alamat and a kilo of alamat coffee goes for $115.