Coffee made from cat poop

[Dbone]

A good read for any coffee connoisseurs...

http://theweek.com/a...priciest-beans#

Preserving the integrity of the world's priciest beans

Coffee made from cat poop: Preserving the integrity of the world's priciest beans

Scientists have created a new test to determine whether Kopi Luwak beans have truly passed through a civet's digestive tract

By Chris Gayomali | September 6, 2013

The world's best coffee doesn't come in a white cup with a green mermaid on the side. It falls from the rear end of a cat.[/background]

Indonesian Kopi Luwak coffee, you may have heard, is a rare and exotic bean that aficionados have described as tasting "unique, mild, and smooth with a hint of dark chocolate and secondary notes of earth and musk."

"Kopi Luwak is exquisite," biotechnologist Sastia Prama Putri of Japan's Osaka University tellsNPR. "I normally can't drink black coffee. I need milk and sugar. But I can drink Kopi Luwak black."

In order to extract those intricate flavors, however, the coffee berry must first pass through the digestive tract of the Asian palm civet, a small, doe-eyed toddy cat that lives in the trees. Once the fruit is inside the animal's guts, something strange and magical happens, leaving behind an enriched coffee bean that must be harvested from the creature's feces. After the undigested beans are removed from the droppings, they are cleaned, fermented, dried, roasted, and eventually sold.

The process is every bit as laborious and time-consuming as you can imagine, which is why a single cup can go for as much as $80, especially in places where demand is high, like South Korea and Japan.

The exorbitant price of Kopi Luwak also explains why a slew of counterfeiters are beginning to materialize, imparting the premium civet poop coffee market with something of a stinky reputation.

It's why Dr. Eiichiro Fukusaki, Putri, and a team of researchers are developing a first-of-its-kind chemical test to determine whether a cup of civet joe is the real deal. As the Economist explains it:

Dr. Fukusaki's quest began with many piles of civet feces, as well as undigested coffee beans from plantations in Bali, Java, and Sumatra, all of which he treated by roasting them at 205°C and then grinding them up. Instead of popping them into a percolator at this point, though, he mixed them with distilled water, methanol, and chloroform to extract the sorts of chemicals that give coffee its flavor. He then ran the extracts through a gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer, to see what was in them. [The Economist]

The key differences between varieties of Kopi Luwak and ordinary beans turns out to be determined by a handful of chemicals: Quinic acid, caffeine, caffeic acid (which is responsible for a coffee's bitterness), and citric acid (which imparts sour, tangy flavors). As it turns out, the civet's digestive tract did little to change the compounds responsible for coffee's bitterness. Rather, the gastric juices and enzymes responsible for Kopi Luwak's weird alchemy increased the beans' citric acid twofold.

"Citric acid is highly prized in coffee," Mark Overly of Kaladi Coffee Roaster in Denver tells NPR. "It has a nice lemony quality. It brightens a cup of coffee and makes it more lively — much like with a good glass of orange juice."

Once the chemical composition of the coffee was established, the team was able to identify a specific ratio based on the coffee's citric acid concentration that would serve as a tell-tale sign of whether or not a cup of civet coffee is genuine. The chemical test, in fact, is reliable enough to point out an imposter even if 50 percent of the blend was real Kopi Luwak.

That means soon, hopefully, you'll get the beans you actually paid for. Which were once covered in you know what.

[polarbear]

I'll stick to Blend 43, thanks

[bresdogsr]

I'll stick to my K-Cups at $.60 per cup.

[tucomapache]

Is this the coffee from the movie Bucket list?

[canadianbeaver]

Best seller on my little coffee co list... a way to tell if it real is just like our beautiful cigars. Only from a seller you trust. Recommended on the site or store. The beans should be very small... and dark. These are Robusta beans. If the beans are larger, Arabica beans, these are farm raised, fed civets and will not be half as good.

I actually get my beans from a nature reserve in the Philippines where the civets run wild and do their thing.

[Dbone]

I enjoy my coffee, however maybe not to the this extent. BUT it would be a treat. I'm going to look into getting some, thanks for the reference Lisa =) Brew it in a french press I'd assume?

[LGC]

I had some of this high-priced stuff that my inlaws picked up for me. Nothing better than what I can roast at home. More of a novelty item IMO.

[SerieT]

this is considered very prestigious to drink this coffee in many parts of asia

[CaptainQuintero]

There just was a piece on the BBC last week I saw saying how battery farms have sprung up to keep up with demand, huge walls of cages filled with the cats with mangled feet and no fur etc etc

[seamus]

If you can get over where its from its very good.

[Fuzz]

Banned in Aus. Some buggers have been force feeding the poor little civets to cash in on the fad.

[ramon_cojones]

Not interested.

[polarbear]

Is this the coffee from the movie Bucket list?

Yep

[LordAnubis]

Banned in Aus. Some buggers have been force feeding the poor little civets to cash in on the fad.

Really? I wonder why? I would like to try it. I wonder if there's anywhere in london that sells it (a brewed cup). If there is i'll try it out when i go there.

[Fuzz]

Really? I wonder why? I would like to try it. I wonder if there's anywhere in london that sells it (a brewed cup). If there is i'll try it out when i go there.

Cruel practices in obtaining the digested beans, eg force feeding the animals and keeping them in poor conditions (kinda like battery hens).

[LordAnubis]

I see, learn something every day.

[Fuzz]

Though, oddly enough, Customs will let them through as long as the beans are roasted and commercially sealed.

[Ryan]

I do this, except rather than coffee beans and civets, I do it with peanut M&Ms and my jack russel.

They're not as crunchy, but delicious. And rare.

[canadianbeaver]

Not meant to advertise, only inform dbone, really! And we make it in a regular drip, although a French Press is fine.

Interesting about the ban. I actually changed suppliers because my original one had "farm raised " civets and fed them beans. This contradicts the entire rarity and unique quality of Kopi Luwak, which is a rare and expensive coffee for a reason.

That being said, is it worth $220 a pound? $55 a quarter? Is a Behike56 worth $35 a stick?

I am convinced many people buy a quarter pound of KL and never drink it. They put it on a shelf on display and show it to all their friends.

[canadianbeaver]

I do this, except rather than coffee beans and civets, I do it with peanut M&Ms and my jack russel.

They're not as crunchy, but delicious. And rare.

Entrepreneur of the year! Brilliant!!!

[LordAnubis]

Found a place in london that sells a cup... for 70 pounds... thats 100 ausie dollars. I think i'll try it out!!!

[canadianbeaver]

Found a place in london that sells a cup... for 70 pounds... thats 100 ausie dollars. I think i'll try it out!!!

Now that's an entrepreneur... or perhaps an entre-manure! OY!

[Pixa]

Cruel practice that should not be supported by any reasonable person. force fed animals that live a short and uncomfortable life. Any one that tells you they follow the animals about picking up the crap or they walk about the forest picking it off the floor is just lying.

[ajgagnon]

I love coffee almost as much as cigars. However, I would not drink this stuff unless it was gifted. Not that I am cheap... I just don't want to encourage some things. Same with ivory, diamonds, etc.

Besides, I have an amazing roaster only about 20 blocks away (the Roasterie). Best espresso in 1000 miles.