What is a Kopi Luak (Kopi Luwak)?

The only coffee of commerce today that is the product of an animal's digestive tract is Kopi
Luak or Luwak from Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is reported that the yearly
crop is about 80 LB total. It retails in the US for about $18.50 oz. or $296.00 LB. and is
available from John Martinez & Son in Atlanta, GA.
According to the former head of the Indonesian national zoo, as told to the Smithsonian's
rep. Kopi Luak is a fiction with a great sales pitch. (See:
http://www.si.edu/natzoo/coffee.htm )
Here is some new info about Kopi Luak. There has been a new batch in the United States
that is of a washed variety as opposed to the previous dry processed that has been talked
about for years. I personally got an opportunity to sample a couple of pounds that I got
from Tom at Sweet Maria's. The catch is that the price is not down into the $7 range for
unroasted beans. As for the quality of the bean. I've had worse I've had much better. It is a
novelty coffee. But, hey it is kind of fun to tell people what they just drank (not that I would
do something so vile).

The Strange Tale of Luwak Coffee

An Odd But True Tale
From the desk of Chris Wemmer
Director of the National Zoo's
Conservation & Research Center

Here's the story on Luwak coffee (or Kopi Luwak, in Bahasa Indonesia). The luwak is the common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) a very widespread species throughout SE Asia, which is also known as the toddy cat because of its fondness of fermented palm sap (or toddy).

In Dutch colonial days Javanese plantation hands were paid to collect the semi-digested berries from the luwak scats (droppings) which could be found on the lanes between the coffee trees. This was sold as a special variety of coffee--Kopi Luwak, in the belief that the toddy cat is able to select berries of optimal ripeness.

To my knowledge this has never been proven, but its a good idea if you want to sell coffee. In the 70s you could buy Kopi Luwak, already roasted and ground in Jakarta. I used to bring it home to give to my friends, who always got a funny look on their face when I explained where it had come from. I didn't tell them, of course, until after they had finished drinking a cup.

The late Director of the Kebun Binatang Ragunan (Jakarta Zoo) told me that the Kopi Luwak story was all bunk. That was old Benjamin Galstaun, a fascinating man of Armenian-Javanese parentage who was fluent in 5 languages. He said anything you got today claiming to be Kopi Luwak was plain old Javanese coffee, with maybe one bean from a civet turd in it to make it legit.
That too, he felt, was a concession to the improbable.