[–]stockflethoverTDS 116 points 1 day ago*
Just the usual to remind people NOT to patronize most Kopi Luwak you encounter in Bali Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam etc
Most of the time these animals are caged and force fed random coffees from random trees. Asian Palm Civet diet is more than just coffee berries, and these animals live in misery - theyre not domesticated animals.
There are producers that will search for cherries pooped out from wild or free ranging civets, I guess that’s fine. You’ll have to pay though. Telling a driver to take you to have a Kopi Luwak will almost always bring you to the scammiest wankers.
Personal take; if you never try you never know. However the best Kopi Luwak to me cannot compare to most well farmed, processed, roasted and prepared speciality coffees. However, you are free to like what you might like; just be conscious of your choices.
[–]TadGhostalEsq 52 points 1 day ago
This is correct. The point of genuine Kopi Luwak is that the civet searches the forest for the ripest, sweetest coffee fruit. So in theory you’re only starting with the best beans. And then, yes, the fruit passes through the gut and sits in poop for a while, so the beans go through a natural anaerobic fermentation process before being roasted). However, getting those coffee beans means that someone has to go search through the jungle for civet droppings. [I am not convinced that this actually produces a significantly better cup, tbh. But I report, you decide.]
Most “Kopi Luwak” is not that, because clever entrepreneurs realized that idiots on vacation would pay a bit more for a gimmick coffee, which they could satisfy by force feeding low quality coffee fruit into a caged malnourished civet and immediately finish processing the beans on being pooped out (cutting out a chunk of the anaerobic fermentation). Or they could just show a caged civet to said idiot, roast regularly processed beans but claim they came out of the civet, and charge more for it.
There’s an easy way to tell if you’re having genuine Kopi Luwak. Ask yourself, did the cup cost over a day’s salary?
Also. Yes. The animal is a civet.
[–]blahhh87 Lao Jiao 14 points 1 day ago
Thank you for this. Always wanted to try kopi luwak, but after knowing this, it's a nope.
