Civet coffee, often referred to as Kopi Luwak (in Indonesia) or Weasel Coffee (in Vietnam), is coffee that has been partially digested by civets- usually, but not always, the common palm civet.
It is said that the civet’s specialised digestive enzymes alter the structural and chemical characteristics of the coffee. The partially digested coffee beans are then picked from the civet’s faeces before being cleaned, dried and roasted.
Inspired by the (false) claims of only 127kg availability per year and its unusual production method, civet coffee was brought to international fame in 2003 on the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ and again in the 2007 film ‘The Bucket List’ starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Soon after, civet coffee became second only in value to oil with prices reaching as high as three hundred US dollars per cup. Today, Civet Coffee is still a big business. Recent market analysis has predicted that the civet coffee industry will be worth $10.9billion USD by 2030.
