Kopi Luwak

Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is the world's most expensive and low-production variety of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been violently expelled from the anus of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets. The civet cat eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In the digestive tract, the civet's proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness. This coffee is widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world with prices reaching €550 / US$700 per kilogram . Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago. It is also widely gathered in the forest or produced in the farms in the islands of the Philippines (where the product is called kape motit in the Cordillera region, kape alamid in Tagalog areas, and kape melô or kape musang in Mindanao island), and in East Timor (where it is called kafé-laku). Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cà phê Chồn, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced.

Vietnam has 2 farms with 300 wild civet cats in Dak Lak, while in Mindanao island of the Philippines, has 2 farms with 200 (in Davao City) and 100 (in Cagayan de Oro City) wild civet cats. But the archipelago of Indonesia where the famous kopi luwak was first discovered and produced is leading in supplying the world market for almost 3 centuries, where many small-scale civet cat farms are proliferating in the countryside.

The method of gathering from wild civet cats has given way to intensive farming methods in which caged civet cats are force fed the coffee beans. This method of production has a high mortality rate which has raised ethical concerns.