Civet Coffee, world's most expensive coffee

What is Civet coffee?

Civet coffee is coffee that has been brewed from coffee beans which have been eaten, when in the coffee cherry, by a furry, long-tailed nocturnal animal called the Civet, and then passed through the Civet’s digestive tract and been expelled, then gathered by farmers, washed, sun-dried, and lightly roasted.

Civets love to eat the coffee fruit for its sweet and fleshy pulp, or mucilage which is located between the coffee bean (the inner seed of the fruit)

Wild Civet coffee, produced by Civets that are uncaged, benefits from the Civet’s ability to pick the best coffee cherry which are perfectly ripe and thus yield the highest quality coffee beans.

Also creating the unique qualities of Civet coffee are the chemical processes that occur within the digestive tract of the Civet.

What is a Civet?

The Civet is a long-tailed nocturnal mammal that is relatively small and quite furry. See The Asian Palm Civet.

What are some other names for the Asian Palm Civet?

The indigenous Malayalam people in southern India in the state of Kerala call the Asian Palm Civet Marapatti, which means “tree dog” or “wood dog.” In other areas of India the Civet is known as the Luwak.

In the Ilocano language spoken in the Gran Cordillera Central mountains in the northern Philippines the Civet is known as Motit. In other areas of the Philippines the Civet is called either Musang or, in the Filipino language, Alamid.

The Civet is known as Maranai, or “Tree dog” in the India in the Tamil language, and known as Maranai in India, and in Sri Lanka in the Sinhala language the Civet is known as Uguduwa.

Where does most Civet coffee come from?

Sumatra is the main producer of Civet coffee. Other major producers are Vietnam, Sulawesi, Bali and the Philippines.

Why do Civet coffee beans naturally lack bitterness?

The near total absence of bitterness in Civet coffee beans sets them apart from most all other coffee beans. The reason for the distinct lack of bitterness in Civet coffee is thought to be attributed to certain proteolytic enzymes found within the digestive tract of the Civet.

These proteolytic enzymes are thought to penetrate the porous coffee beans resulting in specific chemical reactions which reduce the bitterness present in the beans.

Why is Civet coffee almost always given just a light roast?

The reason that Civet coffee is typically just given a very light roast is because one of the primary reasons for roasting coffee is to reduce the bitterness of the beans.

Since Civet coffee beans don’t have much bitterness, they don’t need much roasting. In a light roast there is very little sugar caramelization or none at all, unlike darker roasts.

The benefit of a light roast is that the coffee’s origin flavors are revealed including the subtle qualities of the beans gained from the soils they were grown in, the climate of the region, the genetics of the coffee trees, and other factors unique to the particular beans grown in a particular place.

Another benefit of a light roast is preserving the unique flavors provided by the Civet, which of course has already consumed the bean as it ate the coffee fruit.

On the journey of the coffee beans through the Civet the beans pick up the particular qualities that change the general character of the bean. These unique characteristics are then revealed in the brewed cup of Civet coffee.

Describe the flavor of Civet coffee.

Civet coffee in general is known to be quite full in the cup with a relatively full body, sometimes very full and even syrupy in texture.

A fine Civet coffee will have a strong and rich, high aroma and the coffee may exhibit hints of chocolaty and caramel tastes and perhaps a bit musty and/or earthy. The mellow brew is also said to reveal distinct nutty and oaky flavors not present in other coffees.

Another general quality found in most Civet coffee s is its low acidity and natural lack of bitterness even with a light roast (it should be noted that roasting reduces bitterness and coffees with more natural bitterness are given a darker roast for that reason).

While Civet coffees produced in different regions may have origin tastes from that particular region and methods used, Civet coffee is known for its sweet and pleasant flavor with a clean finish that tends to linger a while on the palate.

Why do Civets eat coffee cherry?
Civets like the coffee fruit including the fleshy pulp that is located between the inner seed (the coffee bean) and the outer skin of the fruit. While much of the fleshy fruit pulp is digested within the Civet, the coffee bean is expelled whole.

What happens to coffee beans inside the stomach of the Civet?
There remains some mystery about the precise chemical reactions that take place within the coffee beans, if any, inside the stomach and digestive tract of the Civet.

A generally accepted theory is that proteolytic enzymes in the digestive tract of the Civet penetrate the porous surface of the coffee beans with the result that the chemical composition of the beans is altered, and in particular there are shorter peptides and an increase in free amino acids.

How long are the coffee beans actually inside of the Civet?

Usually the coffee beans will remain inside the Civet’s digestive tract for about one and one-half days before being expelled.

The unique flavor of Civet coffee beans as well as the distinct lack of bitterness may also be attributed to the coffee beans initiating the process of germination by malting during this time within the Civet’s stomach.

How does roasting affect the Civet coffee beans?

While a light roasting avoid caramelization, the beans do undergo a process known as Maillard browning which involves a chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars.

More technically, the amino acids’ nucleophilic amino groups react with the carbonyl groups of the sugars creating new molecules that are responsible for new tastes and aromas which in turn may break down and for even more flavor compounds.

What are Civet coffee beans like right after they are expelled by the Civet?

Raw Civet coffee beans are usually just a little darker in color than regular coffee beans and also a bit more brittle.

Civet coffee beans will typically be deposited by the Civet in small clumps of beans that still may be partially covered by some of the parchment as well as the mucilage, which is the fleshy pulp around the bean within the coffee cherry (coffee tree fruit).