The Luwak

sampurnokopi civet coffee   11:16 PM   civet coffe   Comment  

The Luwak or Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus), is a cat-sized mammal in the family Viverridae native to South-east Asia and southern China who is the responsible of the fame of the Kopi Luwak or Luwak Coffee. Luwak is the Indonesian name given to the Asian Palm Civet. The major population of this animal habits the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago.

The Asian Palm Civet or Luwak averages 3.2 kg (7 lb), has a body length of 53 cm (21 in) and a tail length of 48 cm (19 in). Its long, stocky body is covered with coarse, shaggy hair that is usually grayish in color, with black on its feet, ears and muzzle. Luwak has three rows of black markings on its body. The Luwak is solitary, nocturnal and arboreal. The activity period, from 18:00 to 04:00, is influenced by daylight. Palm Civets become active only after dark and retreat to rest sites just before dawn. They spend the day asleep in a tree hollow. They are territorial. Young Luwaks are born in tree hollows or in boulder crevices. It was pursued by humans, who killed them for damaging orchards and plantations but now, due to the extra incoming the farmers have for selling the Luwak’s feces, it looks like they are the king of the plantations.

Feeding and diet

The Luwak or Asian Palm Civet is a nocturnal omnivore. Its primary food source is pulpy fruits such as coffee berries, mango, and rambutan. Luwak is said to pick its fruit carefully, apparently leaving the less ripe fruit for a later date. It will also eat small mammals and insects. It also has a fondness for palm flower sap which, when fermented, becomes toddy, a sweet liquor  but Luwaks love coffee cherries and in coffee harvesting times they are the only thing they eat. It inhabits forests, parks and suburban gardens with mature fruit trees, fig trees and undisturbed vegetation. Its sharp claws allow it to climb trees and house gutters.

In the process to obtain Kopi Luwak or Luwak Coffee, there are two participating parts: the animal and the human.

As it was mentioned in What is Kopi Luwak? the civet selects the ripest berries of the coffee plants and eats the whole fruit. As the civet cannot digest the seed of the fruit (actually, it is the coffee bean), it expels them among its feces. This is the animal process.

Local farmers collect the feces and here is when the human process starts to obtain the final gourmet coffee. Below, there is a description of the whole process to obtain the Real Kopi Luwak for Civet Coffee Australia and it is totally handmade.

Cleaning:

We collect the Luwak feces, remove the husk, crumble and separate the layers, which cover the green beans.

Selection:

In this step, we separate the Kopi Luwak beans one by one and set aside the bad ones, the too small beans and the rare objects such as little stones. In this way we get the premium Kopi Luwak green beans ready to be roasted.

Washing:

The Civet green beans are washed and are immediately dried with warm air so that when they are stored, they do not ferment with the humidity. After this step, the Kopi Luwak beans are stored in a dark dry place until the roasting process take place.

Roasting:

One of the most critical steps in normal coffee and Kopi Luwak coffee production is the roasting process. Our Kopi Luwak is roasted at the Sidikalang Arabic Plantation in Northern Sumatra. This roasting process has been used for generations and is completely done by hand; giving our Kopi Luwak it’s distinctive  aroma and flavor.

Packaging:

Generally, Kopi Luwak coffee and other single origin gourmet coffees are packed in whole beans because they keep the flavor and the aroma longer.

The Kopi Luwak coffee comes in special bags, which have a one way degassing valve to allow the liberation of gases caused after the roasting process and does not permit the entering of air. The oxygen along with light and humidity are the main “enemies” of coffee.