Who eats coffee beans? Luwak coffee in Vietnam from animal droppings: cost. Technology for making the most expensive coffee from Musangi litter

The small Luwak animal, also known as the musang or palm civet, belongs to the civet family. are the main habitat of musangs, but their distribution area is quite diverse. The main distribution area of ​​the Luwak is Africa, South and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia. The Luwak animal, with a body weight of 1 to 15 kg, resembles a marten or ferret in appearance, its body length varies from 30 cm to 1 meter. Luwak are active mainly at night. The Luwak animal is often the target of hunters who want to get not only the valuable civet fur, but also edible meat.

Nutrition

The Luwak animal lives in trees and is a small predator, but the basis of its diet is not only meat, but also various insects, as well as fruits, nuts and other plant components, including coffee tree beans. Musangs carefully select the ripest and most intact coffee beans thanks to their sense of smell, which allows them to find aromatic and tasty coffee beans.

Production of elite coffee

The Luwak animal eats so much coffee beans that it cannot digest them. When coffee beans enter the Luwak body, they ferment, which subsequently affects the taste of the beans. In the stomach of the animal, the process of digestion of the pulp of coffee fruits occurs, and the coffee seeds are excreted naturally, acquiring a slightly changed appearance. They are collected, thoroughly cleaned and washed to remove Luwak droppings. After this, coffee plantation workers dry the coffee beans in the sun - so they are lightly roasted. After such actions, the sale of coffee begins, on which a luwak is often depicted - an animal that “produces” an elite product.

Research results show that such coffee is safe for consumers, since after careful processing of the beans, there are practically no pathogenic bacteria in them, and subsequent roasting of the beans kills the remaining ones.

The production of such coffee requires a lot of manual work, takes a lot of time and effort, so it is produced in small quantities. The rarity and high cost of coffee is a consequence of the destruction of the Luwak's natural habitat, which causes a decrease in their numbers.

Until some time, palm civets were considered dangerous pests that ate all the ripe fruits, so they were exterminated by Indonesian farmers. However, as it turned out, it was in vain, since with the help of these small animals one can earn a lot of money in the production of elite coffee called Kopi Luwak, which has become the most expensive to date.

A little history

When Indonesia was a Dutch colonial possession, local farmers were increasingly taxed in the form of coffee beans, which were highly prized local population. Then Indonesian farmers noticed that coffee beans from musang excrement were practically indigestible, so they began to carefully clean them and ship them to the Netherlands. However, coffee made from these beans turned out to be so aromatic and tasty that it began to gain popularity outside Indonesia. This is how the original technology for producing Kopi Luwak coffee was born, which today is considered the rarest and most unusual. Many coffee lovers describe it as an aromatic drink that has a caramel flavor with a hint of chocolate. Whether you try this coffee or not is up to you!

This happened back in the distant colonial times in Indonesia. Then the Dutch, who occupied the territories of what are now the Indonesian islands, prohibited local farmers from drinking coffee from “Dutch plantations.” And Indonesians, by the way, love coffee. We lived with a Balinese family in Ubud, where the owner's wife cooked breakfast for us every morning. So, they always brewed me fresh natural coffee in the morning (not Luwak, of course, but regular coffee :)), not because I asked, but because that’s what is customary. That is, the people in those parts greatly respect natural coffee, and this was the case in old times. When the Dutch banned local residents to collect coffee on their territory, farmers had to look for individual coffee beans on the ground where they could find them. This was the feces of luwak, local martens. Over time, people realized that this type of coffee tastes much better than regular coffee.

Since then, Indonesia, and in particular the island of Bali, has to this day been one of the main supplying regions of this type of coffee. A suitable climate and the distribution of palm martens created excellent conditions for the emergence of Luwak coffee in these parts. And indeed, while driving around the island of Bali on my own on a motorcycle, here and there I noticed signs with the inscription “Kopi Luwak”. There is a particularly large concentration of such farms in the northeast of the island, near the village of Kintamani, as well as along the road that leads to the Pura Besakih temple.

So we were driving to the Batur volcano and along the road we noticed the inscription “Kopi Luwak”. I had already heard a lot about this coffee, and therefore it was incredibly interesting for me to see everything myself. I stopped at the entrance to find out how much it costs to visit. It turns out you don't need to pay anything! The entire walk and excursion are free, only a cup of coffee for tasting costs money - 50,000 rupees, i.e. about 5 dollars. Well, quite a reasonable price in my opinion. In Russia, in any coffee shop, regular espresso will not be cheaper. So I parked the bike in the shade and went deep into the green thickets.

The entire territory of the farm is cozy green corridors with a wide variety of plants.
Here you can see how various agricultural crops grow - from cocoa to vanillin. Everything is marked with signs, so those especially interested in botany will definitely be interested in how this or that type of plant grows. And it’s interesting for an ordinary person, far from botany, to see a bed of pineapples, for example:)

I note that my three-year-old child was the first to notice pineapples =) So, even without reading, you will completely recognize the familiar fruits. But for the majority, signs still come in handy, because... a lot of things look like regular grass))
For me, nettle turned out to be more noticeable =)


Here it is a little different, but the shape of the leaves and the small needles on them give away the stinging plant we are familiar with from childhood.

And, of course, coffee grows here. What would it be like without him? In such cute, almost clusters :)

Various varieties of coffee are grown here for display to visitors. But only Arabica beans are used to produce Luwak coffee. The picky animal does not recognize other varieties.

Here is that same selective gourmet marten.

Honestly, I was captivated by this beast. Mordakha is incredibly cute, I just wanted to lovingly rub his fur =))

Several furry animals were sitting in a cage. They were planted here again only to show them to visitors. Of course, there can be no talk of any large-scale production. A pair of martens will not cope with the volumes for sale, no matter how much they eat and poop afterwards.

I asked if it was common for musangs to sit in cages like this. To which the employee confidently replied that no, no, only free musangs produce coffee. They say they walk around in the jungle, eating wild coffee, and then people collect their feces. I doubt it very much, because it’s not enough human resources to collect these inconspicuous poops (sorry, but you can’t take the words out of the song) among the dense thickets. Moreover, I assumed that there would be some kind of coffee plantations, but it turned out that there were such forests around.


Where will the animals look for Arabica?

Previously, coffee was indeed obtained in a “wild” way, but now, more often than not, unfortunate martens are put in cages and fattened on the spot. And if in nature these mammals choose only selected Arabica berries, then in the cages they have to eat what they are given. Therefore, today this method of producing Luwak coffee, although it reduces its cost, also reduces its quality. Quite a predictable pattern in my opinion. It seems to me that it would be more logical to plant coffee fields, fence the entire area and let these martens run around there. It seems like they live in the wild and eat the best coffee at their own discretion. It is again easier to collect waste from them, after all, the territory is limited. Why this was not done remains a mystery to me, but apparently there are reasons...

We were allowed to feed the musang. A farm employee attached ripe coffee berries to a stick so that the animal would not bite his hand. Both Mishutka and I fed Luwak several fruits =)


Look how he bends over for a coffee berry =)

As soon as I saw it, my eyes immediately lit up :)

Well, with what pleasure he crunched the Arabica coffee!! Even I want to, looking at this photo :)))


The berry really looked ripe and juicy, maybe that’s why there was such a stir, or maybe the tummy was just hungry :(

The animal didn’t get much, only a few berries, but he still wanted some treats =)


Notice below the red peel of the berry. Luwak spit out the outer shell of the coffee and ate only the bean!

And I have a question: “How do they eat up these grains?” After all, they are not processed in his stomach. They come out, in fact, only in a slightly modified form.

Yes, that's it. The grain goes in, the grain comes out :) And this coffee gets its unique aroma due to enzymes that are found in the gastrointestinal tract of the palm marten, and with which, naturally, the coffee beans are soaked when they get inside the Arabica eater. Later I found out that martens also do not refuse fruits, and what’s more, they are not vegetarians at all!

The feces found are thoroughly washed, cleaned, and then fried.

I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from regular coffee by its appearance if you poured this into a jar. Doesn't look like poop at all ;)

Afterwards, the roasted grains are ground. The old way is in a mortar.


Mishutka, of course, here is trying more to hold the log than to grind it :)))

But he manages to cope well with the next stage - sifting.


Today, of course, this entire process is automated.

And here, in fact, is the treasured jar of coffee worth several hundred dollars.

And here the burning question arises: “How to brew Luwak coffee”? Many people ask about this because all the aroma and taste apparently do not come out with standard cooking methods. In Bali, I specially filmed this process, because... it certainly deserves attention. To brew Luwak coffee, the Balinese use this device.

Water is poured into the flask, coffee is placed on top, and a fire is lit below.

Then this unit is closed with a glass cube. The water boils over the fire and the steam comes out through a special tube into a bottle with ground coffee.

Here this water accumulates and this is how Luwak coffee is brewed. Whole alchemy, no less!

It seems to me that no coffee machines can replace this technology, and the only way that is even remotely similar is to brew it according to the principle of Turkish coffee directly over a fire.

Hooray! Ready!! Well, shall we risk a sip? ;)

I have repeatedly seen reports from other travelers from similar farms, but none of them fed Luwak, no one saw how coffee is brewed in the traditional way, and no one could distinguish Luwak coffee from regular coffee. Indeed, its taste is practically no different from the average Arabica. But the richness and aroma of this coffee is many times greater than regular coffee! How did I understand this? We were lucky that on this farm they showed us so many things and gave us a chance to try, because we ended up here by accident and how lucky it was!! Because it was here that they didn’t just pour us a cup of coffee for 5 bucks, they gave us a whole tasting table.

In addition to a cup of Luwak coffee, they also brought us a cup of regular coffee for comparison. Everything is learned by comparison, as you know. And this is exactly how you can fully experience the difference between regular coffee and Luwak coffee. The taste of Luwak, as I already wrote, is richer and more aromatic, but at the same time this coffee is not stronger, i.e. It is not the strength that makes the richness appear.

To be honest, I expected something different. The fact is that my mother brought Luwak coffee from Vietnam. With a photo of the animal on the pack, everything is as it should be :) Many people say that this is Vietnamese Luwak with a sort of chocolate flavor, so they say it’s really exclusive. Indeed, the coffee my mother brought has a chocolate tint. Just a caveat, she would never have paid even hundreds of dollars for this rather large bag of coffee. Then it’s not clear what kind of coffee this is, it’s written something like “Luwak”, but how can elite coffee cost the pennies for which it is sold in Vietnam? The answer probably lies in the now known fact that methods have been developed to artificially flavor coffee with civet. It is the artificial flavoring that is felt in the Vietnamese “chocolate” Luwak!! This explains the price of this coffee there.
In Bali, absolutely no additional flavor tones other than coffee are felt, only a special deep richness. That is why it was surprising to me, because I had tried this type of coffee before, but the taste was completely different. So from my own experience, I am inclined to believe that Vietnamese coffee is fake. Not all of them, probably, because Vietnam is also a supplier of the Luwak variety, but cheap options with artificial flavors have flooded the local market, and this is exactly what they sell to tourists, nothing personal, just business) Remember that Luwak coffee is produced all over the world, only 700 kg per year ! It a priori cannot be cheap! Do not be fooled by attractive prices, this is an indicator of deception and low quality.

I'll continue about the tasting. In the photo above you can see that there are many cups of drinks in front of Mishutka. That is, in addition to regular coffee and Luwak coffee, we also tried coffee with ginseng, coffee with chocolate, coffee with coconut, coffee with vanilla, tea with ginger, tea with lemon, tea with lemongrass and hibiscus tea. Mmmmm, how delicious everything was! Mishutka and I blew everything =) Except tea with ginger, because it was very tart and even spicy. All the herbs are grown here, so they offer you to try everything.

And a variety of coffee options are already stored in jars.

After the walk and tasting we headed out. On the way, we were not persistently offered to look at the coffee in their shop, but I immediately said that there was no money =) The employee did not offer anything else, i.e. There was no goal to sell anything, I also really liked this on this farm. I definitely recommend this place to get acquainted with the production of the Kopi Luwak mine.

The farm is called "Lakshmi". Along the direct route "Ubud - Kintamani" (if you go through Tegallalng), along the street Jl. Raya Tegal Suci, there is such a shield.


It is worth focusing on it. The goddess Lakshmi is also painted there, and Ganesha (the Hindu god with the head of an elephant) sits almost at the very entrance to the farm.

Up! Due to requests received in PM, I finally decided to mark this farm on the map.

To be honest, I barely found the coordinates; I had to “drive” again along the entire street from Ubud to Kintamani using Google maps. But this is definitely the place, you can ;) I love this service! He has already helped me many times to find places from memory that are not usually marked on maps.

Both my son and I were undoubtedly very interested in visiting this place. Mishutka and I learned so many new and educational things. A three-year-old child now knows how coffee grows! A few weeks later we were on tea plantations in Malaysia, and among the tea bushes Misha found a green berry. “Mami, what? Kofi? - asked the son. And it’s wonderful =) Books or TV will never tell you this about it. And no matter how detailed I write, I still see it with my own eyes in a completely different way. So go ahead and don’t hesitate ;)

Every true coffee lover, if he hasn’t tried it, has at least heard about the world-famous Indonesian coffee luwak. Manufacturers and sellers award this coffee with all sorts of epithets: “the most prestigious in the world”, “elite”, “premium class”, “drink of the gods”, its taste is “extraordinarily soft”, “caramel”, “with a delicate aroma of vanilla and chocolate," and so on and so forth. Although we ourselves don’t really like coffee and are not big connoisseurs of it, we still decided to find out better what this “beast coffee” is. Luwak in the local language is pronounced “luwak”, but since most people are more familiar with the pronunciation “luwak”, we will not retrain anyone and will continue to call it that way – “coffee luwak”. To write this post, we visited several Balinese coffee plantations, as well as the annual Indonesian coffee festival in Ubud, where we tasted different varieties, compared regular coffee with Luwak coffee, and talked with local coffee masters. So, meet the main character in the Luwak coffee production chain, a small animal with sad eyes - the musang or palm civet (paradoxurus hermaphroditus)


The process of making this exquisite coffee is as follows: civets eat fresh coffee berries, which are processed in their stomachs and intestines due to special enzymes. Coffee beans, which naturally leave the digestive tract of animals, are dried in the sun, then thoroughly washed, after which they are dried again in the sun and only then roasted
The best and most delicious coffee is produced by wild civets, who make their way to coffee plantations at night, where they feast on selected juicy and ripe coffee berries, and as gratitude, they leave their waste, which farmers then find under the coffee bushes and carefully collect.

It is difficult to imagine in what fevered brain the idea of ​​scooping out grains from excrement and eating them was originally born, but the fact remains that this happened, and civets began to be caught and caged in order to put the production of Luwak coffee on stream. Despite the assurances of farmers that civets continue to be fed exclusively with selected berries, this is hard to believe, and judging by the hungry eyes of the animals, they are unlikely to be very picky
Each civet is fed about 1 kg of coffee berries per day, which yields only about 50 g of the required beans. civets live not only on coffee rations - since they are predators by nature, their diet must also contain animal food - as a rule, they are fed chicken. During the day, luwak are sleepy and lethargic and sleep most of the day, and their peak activity occurs at night, so the main feeding of coffee berries occurs in the evening, and chicken is given almost at night. The high cost of this coffee is explained by the fact that civets do not breed in captivity, so production can only be increased by using wild animals. In addition, a special enzyme that affects coffee beans is produced in their bodies only 6 months a year, and the rest of the time they are kept “idle”. Many even release civets into the wild, and catch them again before the season - this turns out to be more profitable than feeding them for nothing for six months. The cost of Luwak coffee on plantations is about 150 thousand rupees ($15) per 100, with wholesale purchases about $100 per kilogram. In Europe, the price reaches $400 per 1 kilogram, and in retail, the price for coffee packaged in packs can reach $100 per 100 g. We asked to see the plantation, and we were given a tour of the territory
They showed the unfortunate civets dozing in their cages. As a rule, they are quite aggressive, but during the daytime some individuals are friendly, so you can even pick them up. They feel soft and fluffy, like cats, and their faces are very cute
After the cages with the animals, we watched how grains were dried, initially not yet separated from excrement, on special trays placed in the sun
Then the selected and washed grains are dried
After which, completely prepared and dried grains await their turn for the next process
Next, we observed the next stage of transformation - roasting coffee beans
So on the plantations you can see the entire process of coffee transformation - from the berries that grow on the trees, to the usual roasted beans or even ground coffee packaged in packs for sale
We even had a hand in the roasting process - the boy stirring the beans honored us and handed us his ladle
After the tour we were invited to a table.
And then to the tasting ceremony, where they offered to try several types of tea, as well as regular coffee
We leisurely sipped tea while enjoying the views of the rice terraces
But we were also offered to try Kopi Luwak, but for a fee - a cup of exclusive food costs 50,000 rupees ($5). We tried it later, at the Food Festival in Ubud - if you drink it with the amount of sugar, as the Indonesians like to do, then it is impossible to notice the difference. Without sugar, the taste of Luwak coffee is slightly different - it is softer and less tart, but in our opinion, the price for it is increased more for the brand than for the taste, although this is only our personal opinion, and we, again, are not coffee connoisseurs. In addition to civets, plantations often contain other animals, such as porcupines.
Rabbits
Bees and wasps are bred - wasp honey, by the way, has a very specific taste
And also, in addition to coffee, spices and cocoa are grown on plantations
In plantation stores you can buy packaged spices and other products with extracts of cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, and nutmeg.
Or try or smell freshly picked spices that are not yet packaged

How to find coffee plantations in Bali

Most of the coffee plantations are located on the road leading to Kintamani (mark on the map). There are several plantations there, we counted at least 5; on the road, as a rule, there is a large sign with the inscription Kopi Luwak

Nowadays money plays a big role in a person’s life. I would even say that we spend most of our time searching for the most profitable business. Everyone is especially interested in the business that will bring money in a short time.

Most people think little about ways to achieve wealth, and this sometimes brings problems. Any business is built not only on fast and cheap ways. Much depends on quality, and it cannot be achieved by easily accessible methods.

Incredible way to make money

In our modern age, we have learned to make money from everything, not only from large and small production. The availability of the Internet has made it possible to earn money even from pets. There would be a desire to sell absolutely everything, but there would always be a buyer.

Returning to the topic of pets, not all owners keep them out of the kindness of their hearts. Many people make money from them; you have often come across advertisements for the sale of puppies or kittens, a rare breed with an ancient pedigree. And how many similar scammers are there among sellers?

The Internet has greatly facilitated access to information and communication at a distance, but also made it possible for fraudulent schemes to flourish unhindered. Therefore, when buying anything online, work only with trusted sites, protect yourself.

The latest innovative way to improve your financial situation at the expense of a pet is to own a Musang, or better yet, several. Ask who is this? Otherwise it is called luwak, an animal that produces.

I'm sure you're wondering what the little animal has to do with coffee production? Let's start in order.

Who is Luwak?

Musang is a small animal, dark gray in color with thick and coarse fur, with black stripes along the body. It loves warm tropical climates because it lives on palm trees. It has many names:

• Malayan Marten;
• Palm civet.

But most often she is known in the world as Luwak.

The places where the animals live are:

• Islands of Java and Borneo;
• South.

They settle on palm trees and do not form flocks. They intersect with their relatives only during the mating season. Since males and females have scent glands in the form of testicles, these animals are sometimes said to be hermaphrodites. For a long time, they were considered pests in their homeland.

Although these mammals are omnivores, they eat a wide variety of foods:

• Various fruits;
• Small insects;
• The bats;
• Small birds and their eggs;
• Also worms;
• Small rodents, such as squirrels and their young;
• Snakes;
• Lizards.

Luwak's favorite treat is coffee beans.

For some time they tried to exterminate them all accessible ways. The fact is that the animals lead active life at night and are quite difficult to catch. Making their way to coffee plantations, they choose only the most delicious and ripe beans. During the day, the animal sleeps, nestling in the interweaving of vines and small branches.

Unfortunately, it is not known who this original was. The main thing is that, having tried this coffee, gourmets found it the most amazing. The coffee taste is reminiscent of vanilla and chocolate, without being bitter.

In addition to producing an expensive variety of unusual coffee, musangs bring other benefits to people. By settling close to people, in stables and other outbuildings, they help get rid of small rodent pests. So these are quite pleasant neighbors, and even with the opportunity to make money from them.

Scheme for the production of the most expensive coffee

How does this unusual taste of coffee come about? According to the observations of scientists, coffee beans, passing through the intestines of luwaka, are processed by a special enzyme - “cebitin”. Thanks to it, the bitterness that is inherent in coffee goes away, while leaving the rest of the special taste properties, plus vanilla complements it.

Under natural conditions, luwak, or paradoxurus hermaphroditus in Latin, produces only a few kilograms of this coffee per year. So residents and producers put a lot of effort into carefully collecting the resulting product and sending it for further processing. That is why its cost starts from 400 dollars to 1500.

Despite the fact that Kopi Luwak coffee is produced in such an unusual and perhaps even unpleasant way for many. Few people liked to watch the entire production and processing process.

Most people prefer not to think about where coffee comes from, but simply enjoy the unusual taste of the final product. Hence the great popularity of coffee all over the world. Therefore, many coffee companies try to produce it artificially.

There are entire Luwak farms in Asian countries.

Only an animal of the civet family living in captivity produces coffee that is not so aromatic and tasty. After all, the diet of an animal in captivity is different from what it is used to; it eats what is given, without choosing the best, as in freedom.

The closest taste to wild coffee is Vietnamese coffee “Chon”. This is all thanks to the technology of manual selection of coffee beans; only the best are fed to the martens.

Some manufacturers tried to recreate rare coffee in the laboratory, but nothing worked. Synthetically processed civet, in the end, did not give the desired result. Most likely, coffee is also influenced by other enzymes found in the small marten’s intestines.

Unusual "manufacturer"

Wikipedia gives detailed description life of the animal. And below you can see a photo of this cute creature. Luwak quickly becomes tamed, even living with people, on roofs or near growing trees. And you don't have to put him in a cage.

Earn thousands of dollars with the help of an exotic animal

Recently, it has become popular to breed Luwak; many entrepreneurs earn hundreds of thousands from coffee martens. In terms of content, this is not a whimsical creature, and is an omnivore. Although he chooses only the best from food.

But if you want to get the best coffee in the end, then you should build the ones closest to natural wildlife conditions, then demand will only increase.

The best part is that breeding musangs is quite easy; females have a short pregnancy of only two months and produce from two to four cubs. Therefore, developing an extensive production of exotic coffee will not be difficult. But if you want to have no equal in your production, make more efforts to create comfortable living conditions for palm martens.

Interesting story

After all, living in others climatic conditions, their body is structured differently, and it is unknown what viruses they carry. But legally obtaining permission to import such an animal is quite difficult. There are so many certificates and permits that need to be collected that in the end many simply give up on the idea of ​​owning such an animal.

That's why the smuggling business is so booming. People don't understand that getting a crocodile without knowing how to keep it can lead to a lot of problems. These are exactly the problems that my friend encountered when she decided to circumvent the law and buy an exotic cat, to be more precise, a “Velvet Wild Cat.”

But they brought her a completely different animal. Instead of the small cat she had chosen, she was given a “Bornean cat,” as it turned out later. In general, she paid a decent amount of money for this fluffy miracle.

The problems started just a couple of days later

They didn’t really explain to her how to care for her, and on the Internet she was looking for information about a completely different type of cat. And no one explained to her that both the owner and the animal need to be vaccinated against various infections, most of which are transmitted through a bite or a cut from the claws.

Believe me, wild cats are different from domestic cats, especially those that were forcibly torn out from their usual environment and were not tamed to people. So my friend suffered from her lack of information.

This story ended rather sadly, firstly, the animal got sick due to improper care. Secondly, his owner became seriously ill with a high fever due to a cut on her arm left by a wild cat.

Of course, they were both able to be cured, but after being discharged from the hospital, my friend was dragged around for a long time to various authorities and was fined a serious amount for illegally importing an animal.

I can say one thing: you shouldn’t chase exotic things, the result may not please you

If you admire wild animals so much, then go to the zoo or visit a tourist Safari, where you can safely enjoy the wild nature.

I hope my tips help you. Thanks to all my subscribers, your opinion is important to me, so write your questions, I will be happy to answer them. Share useful interesting articles with your friends and subscribe to. See you.

Text— Agent Q.

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Today we will talk about one very popular and, at the same time, rare drink. We're talking about Luwak, aka coffee made from animal feces from Vietnam. It sounds terrible, you will agree. However, many coffee connoisseurs from different parts of the world are ready to pay incredible amounts of money for this exquisite drink. But is there Luwak coffee in Vietnam (in particular, in Nha Trang)? Where and at what price can you buy it? And in general, is it worth it? In general, let's figure it out.

A small educational program

Let's start with what is special about Luwak coffee and why is there so much buzz around it? And it’s all in the production process, so to speak. The fact is that this coffee is “made elite” by small predatory animals - musangs (they are also civets, they are also palm martens). In the wild, this animal eats the ripest coffee beans. It turned out that in the stomach of the musang, coffee beans are cleaned of all unnecessary things, saturated with a special enzyme, and the result is the most elite and expensive coffee beans in the world. Actually, the product of the coffee life of this little animal is collected, the beans are selected, washed, dried, fried and sold at a high price. Coffee gourmets claim that coffee “produced” by musang is devoid of unpleasant bitterness and has a pleasant caramel flavor. In fact, their words are not without truth. Luwak coffee is really different from most varieties, only if you don't drink it as sweet as the Vietnamese do. Since with so much condensed milk, even tar and bitumen will be quite a tolerable delicacy.

Without proper processing, Luwak coffee does not look very presentable.

Many people wonder: What kind of perverted mind do you have to have to think of brewing cocoa in a Turk.... animal waste products? Indeed, someone thought of this. But if the history of Kopi Luwak does not lie, one farmer decided to make coffee “after the musangs”. It so happened that his entire harvest was destroyed by these same animals. In order not to go broke, an enterprising man collected what was left after the civet feast, washed it, fried it and packaged it in bags. As a result, the entire harvest was sold, and satisfied customers came for more. They really liked the new type of coffee.

Why so expensive

Perhaps the main reason for the popularity of Luwak coffee is the title of the most expensive coffee in the world. Indeed, in Europe and the USA, the retail price of Luwak coffee can reach $100-$150 per 100 grams. In Asia, of course, prices may be more pleasant, but still Luwak is noticeably more expensive than any other type of coffee. If we talk about the price in Vietnam, then 100% high-quality luwak costs about $1,500 per 1 kg and is sent mainly for export. The main reason for the high cost is the way Luwak coffee is made. The most valuable coffee is the one “prepared” by wild civets. The animals are nocturnal and it is at night that they make their raids on coffee plantations, choosing the ripest and most delicious beans. And in the morning, farmers walk around their properties, collecting what is left after the musangs. All this is done by hand, so the process is really labor-intensive and painstaking. In addition, the necessary enzyme is secreted in the stomach of animals only 6 months a year. Accordingly, the plantations are “idle” for half of the year. This is, in fact, the main reason why you can pay 10-20 times more for a cup of Luwak coffee than for an espresso at the nearest coffee shop.

And this is what the producers of the most expensive coffee in the world actually look like

Of course, enterprising Asians figured out how to put the production of elite coffee on stream. To do this, musangs are caught in huge numbers, placed in cages and fed with coffee beans. So it’s easier to collect the finished product, and there is no special dependence on animals. In general, it’s like a factory for the production of exclusive coffee.

Luwak in Vietnam

First of all, you need to understand that the birthplace of Luwak is Indonesia. Also important is the fact that good coffee in Vietnam is, in principle, quite scarce. Yes, yes, this is a country that ranks second in the world in coffee exports, but practically does not know how to prepare it. The fact is that the culture of drinking this tonic drink was actually brought here by the French during the colonial period. They brought it in, but failed to vaccinate it properly. Therefore, what the Vietnamese themselves drink will cause gastronomic shock and horror for a real coffee gourmet: coffee concentrate from a plastic bottle with a huge amount condensed milk and technical ice from a bucket. Of course, there are places where they make pretty good coffee. However, in general, this is far from a country of coffee aesthetes. Be that as it may, we have prepared an article on the topic, so if you are planning to take aromatic grains to your homeland, we recommend that you read it. But let's get back to Luwak.

As you understand, gourmet coffee will not be served in such establishments

Now comes the moment of revelation! The fact is that there is practically no luwak in Vietnam. Exactly. 99.9% of what is sold in stores in packages labeled Kopi Luwak is either fake or a mixture. By blend we mean coffee consisting of Luwak, Arabica, Robusta, and anything else. At the same time, the percentage of precious coffee content is, at best, 30 out of 100. You also need to understand that we are not talking about any of the selected ripest coffee beans for musangs. The animals eat everything they give, and all year round, which also affects the quality of the final product. So, if you want to try real expensive Kopi Luwak coffee, produced according to all the rules and canons of this exquisite drink, you don’t need to go to Vietnam. Alas, this is true. Once you accept this fact, you will not be surprised why Luwak coffee in Nha Trang costs $20-$30 per kilogram. And don’t think that if you bought it at a nearby store for $70 kg, then this is just that real luwak. Therefore, if you want to buy quality coffee in Vietnam, don’t bother with this exquisite variety. Better take a mocha. The plantations of this coffee are located in Daklak, where there are all conditions for growing this particular variety. Yes, it has not been in the stomach of the beast, but its price is quite reasonable, and the quality is very good.

In Nha Trang, almost every pack of coffee has a musang painted on it.

The dark side of Vietnamese luwak

And the dark side of Vietnamese Luwak coffee lies in the conditions in which these same musangs are kept on farms. We recommend that impressionable animal lovers read no further. So, they keep animals on farms in very cramped cages, completely making it impossible for them to move normally. This, by the way, is another reason for the low quality of Vietnamese luwak. In addition, civets in Vietnam are not fed with ripe and selected grains. Hungry animals have to eat everything in order not to die of hunger. It is also important to understand that these animals do not reproduce in captivity, so farms have to constantly catch wild specimens. Needless to say, a wild animal will not live long in such cramped conditions. The fact is that most Vietnamese treat animals quite consummately, so civets in the process of producing local luwak are only consumables. Well, what can I say, the demand for cheap Vietnamese “leftist” is growing, new farms are opening, thousands of new animals are being caught. Here are a couple of photos for you.

Many may object, they say, we were on coffee plantations, we were taken there on an excursion, these animals live normally. Firstly, there is no need to compare excursion and industrial production. Secondly, in principle there should be no farms with musangs. Producing Luwak in this way automatically reduces its value and the very fact of the existence of this variety becomes almost meaningless. Just think about it, you are not drinking rare coffee, hand-picked after the nightly arrival of predatory animals. You drink coffee selected from the excrement of half-dead animals sitting in a cage. Therefore, if you decide to buy Luwak coffee from Vietnam, then be prepared to simply overpay for regular Arabica or Robusta.

Oh yes, one more moment. If you think that the production of tourist luwak (there is no other way to call it) is worth it, then please close your browser tab. This site was not created for you. And our team has no desire to share information with you. We hope that this article will discourage at least a dozen or so guests of Vietnam from buying Vietnamese luwak. This country has a lot of wonderful things, but definitely not this “elite” type of coffee. But we would still recommend buying Luwak coffee in Indonesia. There they produce it more often correctly.