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Drinking Kopi Luwak in Bali | Ummi Goes Where?

What is Kopi Luwak?

What is Kopi Luwak?

(and what makes it the most expensive coffee in the world)

Popular in Bali, Indonesia, kopi luwak (a.k.a. civet coffee or cat poop coffee) refers to partly-digested coffee beans that have been eaten and defecated by Asian palm civets.

Luwak / civet
Luwak/civet. Credit: Mike Prince / Wikimedia Commons

Civets pick and eat only the best and ripest coffee cherries. Then, in their digestive tracts, fermentation occurs.

The civet’s digestive enzymes seep into the beans, changing the protein structure and removing some of the acidity. This improves the flavor profile of the coffee, making it smoother and less bitter.

However, civets can only digest the fleshy pulps, and not the actual coffee beans. So, these beans will pass through the civet’s intestines, to be defecated with other fecal matter and later collected for processing and consumption.

If you think that’s gross, please remember that we are Asians. We eat everything.

File:Kopi luwak 090910-0075 lamb.JPG
Unprocessed luwak coffee. Credit: Wibowo Djatmiko / Wikimedia Commons

Is Kopi Luwak Ethical?

In the wild, civets have a varied diet of fruits, seeds, and bugs. This is partly what gives luwak coffee its unique flavor. But scavenging for wild civet dung takes a lot of time and effort. With the growing popularity of luwak coffee (and the amount of money it brings), coffee sellers want more of them beans, and they want them fast.

This has encouraged coffee farmers to start commercial luwak farms where the animals are trapped, caged, and force-fed with only coffee beans and no other food, in order to increase yield. Restricting their diet in this way causes health problems due to nutritional deficiencies.

Luwak cat in cage
Luwak cat in a cage. Credit: surtr / Wikimedia Commons
 

These farms also usually double as tourist attractions, where tourists come to see how the world’s most expensive coffee is produced — and while they’re at it — take pictures of the civets. The problem is that civets are naturally solitary and nocturnal creatures. Keeping them awake during the day and forcing constant interaction with humans can cause them distress in the long run.

Rainforest Alliance Certified | Ummi Goes Where?Fortunately, people are getting better informed on the adverse effects of mass luwak coffee production on the civets. In 2014, Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) banned coffee production from caged civets on its Indonesian farms. Similarly, well-known coffee certifiers such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ Certified have stopped certifying producers who use caged civets in their business. 

So, if you’re a luwak coffee fan, it’s up to you to find the ethically-produced ones. Look for the ones bearing Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certifications.

Where to Find Kopi Luwak in Bali

There are several places in Bali that still source their beans from cage-free, wild civets. One of them is Satu Satu Cafe in Canggu. It gets its coffee from the owner’s six-acre family farm in Plaga.
 
If you’re not concerned about where your coffee is sourced from, you can find it in almost any cafe and souvenir shop around the island. Whether or not it is authentic, however, is a different story. Ever read the news of people dying from drinking fake liquor in Bali? Well, apparently, they do the same thing with their coffee too. According to Nordic Coffee Culture, more than 80% of all coffee sold as Kopi Luwak today is fake.
 
You have a better chance of getting the real one when you go on kopi luwak tours. Most private tours around the island will include a visit to a kopi luwak plantation (again, it is up to you to find the ethical ones).
 
You will be shown around the farm, during which you might be able to see the civets (and their droppings) and how the beans are cleaned, dried, and roasted. The tours typically end with some coffee tasting. In my case, since the place I was taken to also sold other products like teas and cocoas, I got to try them too. There were 12 different samples. Of course, I polished them all clean.
 
Kopi luwak testerd in Bali | Ummi Goes Where?
A variety of drink samples at the Kopi Luwak farm.
 
The luwak coffee was not included in the samples, however. It was sold at Rp50,000 (USD 3.75), which was much cheaper than at any other cafes in the vicinity, so I’m not very sure about its authenticity.
 
Kopi Luwak Bali | Ummi Goes Where?
Kopi Luwak.

Final Thoughts on Kopi Luwak Bali

So, what does the most expensive coffee in the world tastes like?

It tasted like…(drumroll, please)…coffee.

Much the same way I could drink Evian and Acqua Panna and think they taste no different from tap water, the supposedly special taste of kopi luwak was totally lost on me. I guess a true coffee drinker would have been able to tell the difference. As for me, I would rather just stick to my Old Town White Coffee.

Drinking kopi luwak in Bali | Ummi Goes Where?
Drinking kopi luwak in Bali.

Have you tried kopi luwak? What did you think about it? Comment below.

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27 Comments

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  2. bae roslan

    taste luwak masa travel to bali. for i think its thicker than usual coffee. same like u, i’ll stick to my coffee je la haha

    • ummi

      Hahaha, kan? Dengan harga yg macam tu, baik minum kopi biasa je la. Tapi sesiapa yg nak rasa minuman yang pelik dan eksotik, boleh la cuba kopi luwak ni.

  3. Fadima Mooneira

    I haven’t tried the kopi luak yet and even travel to Bali. My friend pernah lah try. She said it tasted totally exotic. Is that right? Btw Ummi, your Bookworm Interview is now published ya. So pls feel free to check it out. Thank you for your participation.

    • ummi

      Yes, I saw the interview yesterday, Fadima. Thank you for publishing it!
      As for the luwak coffee, I failed to see or taste anything special about it, unfortunately.

    • ummi

      Haha, it must have been so unmemorable that you’re not sure whether you’ve tried it or not, kak Fas. I personally think it’s not worth the price or the effort to produce it. But to each his own. 🙂

  4. Sis Lin

    Hahaha dah 3 kali tau ada ke tempat yang ada jual Kopi Luwak ni, dan tetap juga Sis tak bileh nak minum.. mungkin kalau dari awal mereka tak kata ianya kopi dari najis tupai tu, maybe Sis minum.. hahahahaha

    • ummi

      Hahaha kalau nak minum, jangan fikir sangat cara penghasilan dia, nanti tak lalu. Tapi ok la, kira Ayu suka juga la ya rasa kopi luwak ni? Saya tak dapat tangkap apa rasa yg istimewa tu.

    • ummi

      Wow, Kitkat, you’re one of the few people here who actually love luwak coffee. Perhaps I need to go through the entire preparation process too to be able to appreciate it.

    • ummi

      Ya, Ana. Proses penghasilan kopi luwak ni sangat unik. Semoga Ana ada rezeki untuk mencubanya nanti. Dan kalau boleh, cuba la dapatkan di tempat yang mengamalkan cara penternakan yang beretika, ya. 🙂

  5. Grace Ng

    I tried it once at bali but at that time, i never really knew much about how the beans were harvested. may your article help other innocent travelers in the future haha!

    • ummi

      Haha thank you, Grace. I hope this article won’t turn them off completely. Kopi luwak is still worth a try although I wasn’t too impressed with it.

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