Kopi luwak or civet coffee, is coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the luwak or Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, 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, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.
Peculiarity Kopi Luwak, because in digestion of Luwak occur fermenting by enzymes produced by bacteria as naturally that can reduce the acidity of coffee
Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago. Coffe made from beans were gathered in the wild from where a civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory.
Coffee cherries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet's digestive tract, the beans are then defecated in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry's inner layers. They are gathered, thoroughly washed, sun dried and given only a light roast so as to keep the many intertwined flavors and lack of bitterness yielded inside the civet.
Now Indonesian farmers made their own coffe. Farmers in Indonesia making kopi luwak by let civet to eat coffee cherries on their coffee plantations. Civet allowed to proliferate in the coffee plantation. In Lampung (Sumatra island) farmers maintain the luwak in a cage.
Kopi luwak processing similar to regular coffee processing only the fermentation process by Civet that makes the difference.:
1. Coffee beans eaten by Luwak. Fermentation Process is going on
2. Coffee beans that mixed with luwak droppings collected, then wash with full wash process.
3. Drying coffee under the sun, Until 20% - 25% of water remaining.
4. Mashed coffee beans by traditional way or machine to separate the skin.
5. Separate the civet coffee beans best.
6. Drying coffee under the sun again, Until 14% - 19 % of water remaining.
7. Washing coffee beans cleanly.
8. Drying coffee under the sun again, Until 10% - 13 % of water remaining
9. Frying coffee bean manually or drying in oven.
10. Pulverization or mashed manually or machine until smooth.