Bean there, pooped that

The story of the most exotic coffee – Kopi Luwak – and its highly extraordinary origins: coffee beans retrieved from the defecated matter of the Asian Palm Civet.

The issue that intrigues me most of all is why somebody would have wanted to separate the faecal matter of an animal and then to test whether it made a delectable brew. Clearly someone has. Somebody with an obtuse mind.

Main picture: Source – http://skuddl.com/5-best-coffee-machines-2017/

For three cogent reasons, I will never let even a sip past my lips:

 Price

The processing of the coffee bean through the gut of the palm civet has to be the most expensive “process” in the world. Collectors of this excrement in the Philippines are paid approximately US$20 per kilogram for the equivalent of previously unwanted excrement. After shipping and packaging, the ultimate retail price is far higher being closer to US$700 per kilogram.

At these eye watering prices, I will not be tempted any time soon. Furthermore I am not a coffee snob.

Palm Civet#2

 

Treatment of the “manufacturing” plant

According to Wikipedia, the following conditions are prevalent:

The traditional method of collecting feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cage systems are force fed the coffee beans. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets due to “horrific conditions” including isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate. A 2013 BBC investigation of intensive civet farming in Sumatra found conditions of animal cruelty. Intensive farming is also criticised by traditional farmers because the civets do not select what they eat, so the beans are of poor quality compared to beans collected from the wild. According to an officer from the TRAFFIC conservation programme, the trade in civets to make kopi luwak may constitute a significant threat to wild civet populations.

Why should any animal be subject to inhumane conditions such as this just so that one can play one upmanship or keep-up-with-Jones games?

This is what the sellers will not tell one about: the inhumane conditions in which these animals are kept

This is what the sellers will not tell one about: the inhumane conditions in which these animals are kept

The manufacturing process itself

Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process improves coffee’s taste through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat coffee berries containing better beans. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavour profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten.

The raw ingredients: not one's ordinary peanut brittle

The raw ingredients: not one’s ordinary peanut brittle

The scientific explanation of the process which sounds quite innocuous is that the the civet eats the berries for the beans’ fleshy pulp. Then when it is in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet’s proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. After passing through a civet’s intestines, the beans are then defecated with other fecal matter and collected.

 

The range of the Asian Palm Civet

The range of the Asian Palm Civet

In layman’s terms, all that happens is that the palm civet eats the beans and poops them out a few hours later.

Along with the manufacture of polony, it is not a salubrious process. Not something that I would like to subject my body to.

So no thanks.

I would rather pass and go thirsty.

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