Vietnam coffee made from excrement. The most expensive coffee of the litter. Chon from Vietnam

Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world, accounting for 18%. But the coffee made from animal feces from Vietnam is most famous.

It is nocturnal and sleeps during the day, choosing secluded places, such as tree hollows. By the way, he climbs trees very well. There are 30 subspecies of this musang.

The palm marten is omnivorous; coffee is not its main food. The animal's diet includes various other fruits, as well as insects, worms, bird eggs and even small animals.

The enzymes that give coffee beans processed in the stomach their unique taste are produced only six months a year.

Luwak coffee

This type of coffee bears this name in Indonesia, where it is also produced. In Vietnam it is called "chon". Coffee made from animal feces from Vietnam became business card countries.

The fact that it was here that the business was put on stream did not reduce the price of the product, but increased the production of expensive grains due to the following:

• Special farms have been created where musangs are kept.
• The animals are specially caught precisely at the time when they produce the necessary enzymes.
• During the corresponding period, the palm marten is fed exclusively with the fruits of the coffee tree.

After the enzyme production period has passed, the animals are released into the wild. At this time, excursions are organized for tourists who are in the country to the plantation. And they can see the entire process of producing unique coffee.

The cost of a product consists of several factors:

1. Farmers hand-collect the excrement produced by the musangs after they ingest the coffee fruits.
2. After collection, everything needs to be properly processed and dried, and this is also done manually.
3. The ability to obtain grains during a limited period of the year also increases the price of the product.

On average, luwak in Europe costs $150 per 100 grams. This variety is often mixed with other coffee beans, which gives the drink an even richer aroma and taste.

Julia Vern 54 701 0

Coffee is a food product that is consumed as a drink. Everywhere coffee is one of the most common and favorite drinks. Every day, every person’s morning begins with a cup of hot aromatic coffee; it would even be difficult to imagine the beginning of a new day without it.

Coffee trees are grown in different countries, mainly in the tropical climate zone. These trees belong to the madder family and number about 60 different species.
The grains of this product contain a large number of chemicals. The main components are:

• caffeine, about 1-2%;
• ester of caffeic and quinic acid - 5-8%;
• 1% citric acid;
• 6% carbohydrates;
• 5% mineral salts.

The production of regular coffee differs in different methods of roasting (at different temperatures), adding impurities (which gives a particular flavor to the drink), or the type of coffee tree.
The production of the most expensive varieties of black drink has a slightly different and interesting scheme. These production methods influence the cost of a valuable product. So, get acquainted with expensive varieties of coffee and their production.

The most expensive varieties are obtained from animal excrement

The leader among connoisseurs of a prestigious and elite drink is coffee extracted from excrement, Kopi Luwak. The drink under this name is number one in price all over the world.
True gourmets characterize it as the drink of real kings. It has the taste of dark chocolate and a delicate aftertaste of caramel, and includes a slight vanilla aroma. Kopi Luwak is truly expensive; a cup of coffee can cost up to $100. Naturally, this is the price in countries remote from the place of production.

Kopi Luwak production technology.

Only true connoisseurs know how this drink is produced. This recipe is quite simple, and it just affects the cost. It is made, or rather obtained, from animal droppings. These animals are Chinese badgers or musangs. They look like the cartoon character Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, only gray in color. These badgers feed on coffee fruits, and they choose the ripest and largest berries, collecting them both in trees and on the ground.
A ripe coffee berry is red in color and big size. Small green grains do not attract these animals, so they only enjoy the ripe product. Badgers can consume up to 1 kg of ripe fruits per day. What is eaten is mainly digested in the animal’s body, and only 5% does not have time to be digested and is excreted entirely.
Coffee beans, while in the animal’s body, are processed there by gastric juice and civet. After which the excrement released from the animal is collected by a person. Fruits that have not had time to digest are selected and cleaned. After a long cleaning process, they go through a drying and cleaning process, then another washing and drying process. The dried grains are lightly roasted at a certain temperature. The exact recipe for preparation and processing is unknown; its manufacturers keep it secret.

The grains are washed, cleaned and roasted several times

An interesting fact is that the grains are selected only for six months; the remaining six months they do not have the same taste. The fact is that the enzyme that gives coffee fruits a unique taste is secreted in animals for six months, but not for the next six months. Therefore, there is no point in collecting coffee produced by animals at this time. Beans from males are more valued, as they have a special pleasant aroma.
The collected grains go through a 15-stage sorting stage. And only grains without defects are packaged and sold as a whole. The rest are ground and sold crushed. This coffee is produced in southeast Asia - in Indonesia.
In Ethiopia they tried to develop the same coffee production as in Indonesia. There are also coffee trees and similar animals called civets. When tasters tried and compared these drinks, the Ethiopian version was far below the quality of the Indonesian product.

Chon coffee variety

The second expensive variety is produced in Vietnam and is called Chon. It has a slightly different taste than the product from Indonesia, no worse, just a little unusual. This variety is called an analogue of Indonesian coffee. Mostly Arabica and Robusta varieties are used, but less commonly the Katimor and Chari varieties are also used.

Chon production technology

The main participants in the production of the product from Vietnam are the Asian palm martens. They also eat coffee beans and love them very much. The technology is similar to that of Indonesian producers; grains are also collected from the droppings, cleaned, washed, and fried. The yield of whole beans from the animal's body is also about 5-7%. It is believed that the beans that come out of these animals have medicinal properties. Until recently, people considered palm martens to be pests, until they once tried to make a drink from their droppings. Now they have specially made enclosures where they keep these animals and at the same time feed them coffee beans.
Drying of beans not separated from excrement is done in the sun, after which each grain is selected, washed and dried again. After this, they move on to the frying process. Manufacturers do not disclose the temperature at which they fry.
The Vietnamese have learned very well how to combine several types of product into one, and the quality does not decrease, but only improves. This type of coffee includes the aroma of cocoa, hot chocolate, vanilla, and caramel. In general, everything is the best and necessary to get a divine aftertaste. The cost of this variety ranges from 150 to 250 dollars per kilogram.

The Chon variety is produced by Asian palm martens

Chon coffee recipe

There are two popular recipes for preparing this drink by the Vietnamese themselves.

1. Condensed milk is poured into the bottom of the cup and a special filter is placed on top. A spoonful of ground beans is poured into the filter and pressed on top with a press. After that, I pour boiling water into the cup through the filter, and it turns out to be an excellent drink.
2. The second method is somewhat unusual. The procedure is the same as in the first case, only instead of a cup a long glass is taken, and ice is used instead of condensed milk. The drink is served cold as a refreshing drink in hot weather.

The Vietnamese themselves consider their drink number one in the world and say that if you try just one sip, you will never be able to refuse it.

Variety Black Ivory

Another common and expensive type of drink is Black Ivory. Translated into Russian it means “Black Tusk”. The cost of a kilogram of such grains is $1,000. It has its own special taste and aroma, somewhat similar to the previous two, but has an original taste.

Manufactured by Black Ivory

This drink is produced in Thailand. The main producers are elephants. They are fed ripe berries from Arabica coffee trees and get almost ready-made coffee from their feces. Beans passing through an elephant's stomach are treated with the large animal's stomach acid. The acid is able to dissolve the protein of coffee beans, which leads to the fact that the finished product loses its bitterness. Therefore, even the strongest Black Ivory coffee will never be bitter.

Curious:
The process of digestion of fruits by an elephant's stomach takes about 30 hours. During this entire period of time, the grains are saturated with the fruity aromas of sugar cane, bananas and everything that the animal is fed.

To get a kilogram of undeformed grains from an elephant's stomach, it needs to be fed 35 kg of ripe berries, while mixing them with other ingredients that are included in the elephant's diet. During eating, most of the grains are simply destroyed, another part is digested by the stomach, and only a small part comes out of the elephant without deformation.
Women are responsible for extracting grains from elephant dung; they select whole grains and then send them for drying. Drying is carried out in factories in Bangkok. In Thailand, 26 elephants are involved in the production of the black drink.
It is very difficult to buy a product of this brand, since it is sold only in some cities in Thailand.

Black Ivory is produced with the help of elephants

Other high value coffees

These varieties of dark drink are inferior in price to all of the above, but not inferior in taste.

• Coffee Yauco Selecto.
  This type of coffee is obtained in the Caribbean, from Arabica beans. Coffee trees are grown at an altitude of 100 meters above sea level, where there is an excellent climate for their growth and rich harvest.
  It is not passed through the bodies of animals, so coffee has a significantly lower cost - $50 per kilogram.
• Starbucks.
  This drink with this name appeared quite recently in 2004. Introduced to Rwanda by Starbucks. This drink has its own distinctive aroma and aftertaste. When drinking this coffee, you feel a slight sourness with a different bouquet of spices. The cost of a kilogram of grains is 50-60 dollars.
• Blue Mountain.
  This type of coffee is produced in the city of Walenford, Jamaica. Distinctive feature This variety is characterized by a lack of bitterness and a mild taste; it is very popular among the Japanese population. This variety is produced traditionally. The cost starts from $100 per kilogram and above.

Having considered the prices, production principles and taste characteristics of each expensive coffee, we can note that the most expensive varieties are the Kopi Luwak, Chon and Black Ivory brands. They have the same production principle, but from different manufacturers. It takes a lot of work to produce the product by passing grains through the stomach of an animal. Both of these types of coffee are popular only among the rich and affluent segments of the population.

This is a continuation of my report from a coffee plantation. In the first part, I wrote about the most expensive coffee in the world - Kopi Luwak. About how it is produced with the help of small cute animals, musangs (palm martens), how it is packaged, how our tourists are deceived. If anyone is interested, read the previous review.

This review of mine is about another elite fermented coffee that is produced with the help of elephants, the so-called « Elephantcoffee". It is produced in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. IN different places it is called by different names. Somewhere it is called “Ivory” or “ Black Ivory(Black Tusk).” In my case it's « Voi Prenn" , if translated literally, then voi is an elephant, prenn is the name of a waterfall. I managed to translate it as "Prennian Elephant"

It is unknown when the first elephant coffee appeared. But the history of its appearance is quite obvious. World fame and ever-increasing value Kopi Luwak for a long time haunted enterprising businessmen. And they began to experiment with different animals that could be fed coffee beans. The most obvious was the elephant - throw bags of Arabica coffee into it, like into a furnace, and get tons of raw materials as a result. Just have time to count your profits.

But everything turned out to be not as simple and obvious as with the musangs. The elephant is a vegetarian, and at the same time, is not particularly picky about food. He won't live on coffee alone. An elephant eats at least 50 kg per day. food and drinks up to 300 liters. water. The digestion process lasts approximately 30-35 hours. At the same time, the elephant breaks and chews many coffee beans. To get 1 kg. About 35 kg of coffee raw material suitable for further processing must be fed to an elephant. Arabica beans. Productivity is not very high. Let's add to this the labor-intensive process of washing and drying coffee beans. Hence the high cost of this coffee, commensurate with the cost Kopi Luwak.

In the elephant's stomach, coffee beans are processed by gastric juice, which breaks down the proteins that give coffee bitterness, and mixed with the juices of other plants (for example, bananas, sugar cane) that elephants love. Elephants have much softer gastric juice than musangs, so E lephant coffee turns out to be somewhat stronger and bitter than Kopi Luwak.

By aroma and taste E lephant coffee very different from Kopi Luwak. Its taste is not chocolate-caramel, but rather fruity-berry. But also very aromatic and rich. And its bitterness is more noticeable. E lephant coffee I would conditionally call “male” coffee, but Kopi Luwak - “feminine”.

Cooking E lephant coffee I usually work out in the mornings on weekends. My irreplaceable copper Turk “Ideal Wife” and my “signature” recipe help me with this.

If you haven’t seen it, be sure to watch an excellent American film starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called “Until I Play the Box.” One of the heroes of the film, a millionaire and a big snob, was very fond of periodically drinking exquisite Luwak coffee - the most expensive coffee in the world.

Good day, friends.

Well, wealthy people can afford it. The second main character found information about how this drink is prepared and informed his friend. Everything that was in the proposed description is completely true...

In general, we will not retell or go deeper into the plot. Let's focus on what kind of Luwak coffee it is, and how it is obtained. Read it, we hope it will be interesting!

The Indonesian island of Java is considered the birthplace of all coffee. A long time ago, Arabica, Liberica, and Robusta were grown in Java, and everywhere. However, at the end of the 19th century, a rust fungus affected all Javanese coffee plantations in the lowlands, and only those plantations that were located at an altitude of more than one kilometer above sea level survived.

The most unpretentious type of coffee turned out to be robusta, which makes up 90 percent of the total product grown in Indonesia. As for Luwak coffee, it is not entirely of plant origin!..

The most expensive coffee in the world: how is Luwak coffee made?

The process of emergence of Luwak coffee is quite unusual. No, at first everything proceeds according to the standard pattern: there are coffee trees, beans grow on them - as in all other cases. Then the ripest of these beans are eaten by a creature that goes by several names: palm civet or marten, civet, punch cat.

On the island of Java itself it is called musang or luwak. This is a living “coffee processing machine”. The food eaten is processed in the animal’s body, but the coffee beans are not digested and are excreted along with the feces. These “crapped” beans are the raw material for the product known as Luwak coffee - the most expensive coffee in the world.

You are disappointed?

However, gourmets advise not to attach importance to this. After all, in the end, it is not excrement that is brewed (and thank God!), but coffee beans - carefully washed by the service staff, dried, roasted and packaged.

This is what the “source” of Luwak coffee looks like

So, the animal involved in the production of Luwak coffee has a body almost a meter long and a tail almost the same length. Moreover, this person has a strong tendency towards libations. We are talking about the consumption of low-alcohol punch by the palm marten - a mash made from palm juice, which is snacked on with various berries, including coffee berries.

Musang Luwaks lead a bohemian lifestyle: during the day they sleep off the labors of the righteous in caves, and at night they go out to “production”. They will drink punch and eat ripe, exceptionally ripe and very aromatic beans.

So, the initial stage of making coffee from the Luwak animal is based on finding the best berries and eating them.

Luwak coffee: how it is made

At the second stage, when the musangs digest the pulp of the beans, the grains remain intact and unharmed, and they are safely excreted during bowel movements. By the way, the gastric juice of punch cats includes a special substance - cebitin, which breaks down the proteins of coffee beans.

This gives Luwak coffee an exclusive taste with a barely noticeable bitterness and various shades: from the taste of butter to the taste of honey. Experts note that after drinking the drink, a surprisingly pleasant aftertaste remains in the mouth. The richness of the taste is enhanced by the specific method of roasting the beans over low heat.

In addition to collecting animal feces left in wildlife, there is another opportunity to obtain raw materials for Luwak coffee; production is established on farms. Here the musangs are kept in captivity, and they eat only the beans that the farmer offers them, and not those that they usually pay attention to when in the wild. Add to everything else stress, a sedentary lifestyle and a bunch of diseases that arise in connection with this...

Meet: musang is a living and walking “factory” for coffee production

Gourmets note that the drink obtained artificially is inferior in quality and taste to that produced in the old way. Now you know how Luwak coffee is made.

Luwak coffee

When the public learns that coffee from the Luwak animal is made from beans extracted from feces, the question inevitably arises: who, I wonder, thought of picking them out of poop?

It turns out that during the colonization of Indonesia by Holland, Europeans prohibited to the local population collect coffee beans from trees. Disobedience was punishable by cruel punishment. So the aborigines were forced to use civet poop to prepare an invigorating liquid.

The animals that make Luwak coffee consume on average about one kilogram of berries per day. The output from each individual is approximately 50 grams of grains. Few? Undoubtedly. This is about why Luwak coffee is incredibly expensive.

At the farm, the gluttony of the musang is carefully observed. They feed with fruits and rice porridge with chicken. The coffee bean films that the animals spit out are removed from the tray so that they can eat even more berries.

Unfortunately, luwak musangs do not reproduce in captivity, and therefore, to maintain the size of the population, wild animals are captured.

Luwak coffee: where is it produced?

Traditionally, coffee made from Luwak excrement comes to the market from Indonesia (from the islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali), as well as from the Philippines. Many of our tourists are not averse to going on excursions to farms where punch cats are kept, and drinking a cup of drink there. The product is also sold in supermarkets, but much more expensive.

By the way, these are not all the countries where Luwak coffee is produced. Its release has also been organized in Vietnam and India.

Luwak coffee production in Vietnam

Plus, there are reports that manufacturers have learned how to imitate the aroma of civet, i.e. to artificially achieve an elegant taste of the drink does not add optimism.

How to brew Luwak coffee

First, we will describe how the Vietnamese, whose product received high marks from tourists, cope with brewing this type of coffee.

Vietnamese Luwak coffee is prepared in a mug. Its bottom is poured generously with condensed milk, then ground coffee powder is poured through the filter. The entire consistency is pressed down with a press, and again boiling water is poured through the filter (to slow down the process).

At home, it is best to prepare coffee from the Luwak animal in a Turk. Some coffee lovers are sure that the drink must be consumed in its pure form, in other words, without any additives or sugar.

Others, on the contrary, do not imagine coffee as unsweetened. Moreover, according to some recipes, sugar should be added during cooking. As a result, the taste of the drink is bright, and the noble coffee foam is preserved better with sugar.

At home, it is best to prepare coffee from the Luwak animal in a Turk.

You can try adding a small pinch of table salt during cooking. They say that this makes the drink richer.

How to brew Luwak coffee classically:

• slightly warm the Turk over the fire;
• then add ground coffee into it. If necessary, add spices and sugar;
• Warm the Turk again, fill it with very cold water almost to the top and mix everything with a spoon. The slower the drink is brewed, the tastier it comes out;
• After waiting for foam, remove from heat and cool. Then repeat the procedure a couple of times. It is necessary to take into account that the drink should not boil and the foam should remain intact - otherwise the coffee aroma will quickly disappear;
• remove the foam with a spoon;
• pour the coffee into cups (if everything is done correctly, the foam will occupy the entire surface of the drink).

In addition to sugar, and in rare cases, salt, spices are added to Luwak coffee, alcoholic drinks, milk. Experimenting with their combination and quantity allows you to get an unimaginable number of recipes. The following spices are suitable for making coffee: cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, ginger, allspice, cloves and more.

How to brew Luwak coffee - recipes

And now about how to brew Luwak coffee using ready-made recipes.

"Mediterranean coffee":

• glass of water;
• 2 teaspoons coffee;
• cocoa, cinnamon, anise - ½ teaspoon each;
• ginger and orange zest - a quarter each.

"With cinnamon and black pepper":

• coffee is prepared in the usual way;
• Put a pinch of cinnamon on the bottom of the Turk along with sugar, and at the end of cooking, throw a peppercorn into the resulting drink.

“With cardamom and spices”:

• 1.5 glasses of water;
• 3 teaspoons coffee;
• 5 boxes of green cardamom;
• ½ cloves;
• anise and ginger powder.

Add finely chopped cardamom, cloves, a quarter spoon each of ginger and anise to a well-heated pot over low heat.

Kopi Luwak coffee package

As soon as the aroma of spices spreads throughout the kitchen, pour coffee inside, mix with spices by shaking the Turk, and add filtered water. Place on low heat, wait for the foam to rise, ideally three times, if you’re lazy, then once will be enough.

Luwak coffee reviews

As most gourmets admit, the described drink causes mixed reactions. Not everything is pleasant and good, which is expensive. So, Luwak coffee reviews:

• a girl wrote on one of the forums that what always stopped her from purchasing Luwak coffee was the originality of production and the number of counterfeits (and in Russia this is generally a problem!). Apparently I bought a lot of materials and videos on this topic. My intuition didn’t let me down, I bought a quality product. Appreciated him;
• She is echoed by a guy who admits that the coffee is excellent, the taste attracted him with a slight sourness, which does not spoil the taste, but, on the contrary, complements it. It’s expensive to drink such a drink every day, but on weekends it’s just right;
• a group of friends tasted coffee, each of them was satisfied. What was especially striking was that the drink completely lacks the bitterness inherent in regular coffee. The aroma is subtle and pleasant. The only problem is the hefty cost of the product;
• another guy admitted that he was thinking about how he could spend so much money on coffee! Coffee! It turned out that the taste is more than unusual - soft, and seemingly weightless;
• Among the words of praise there are also critical ones. There are people who claim that Luwak coffee tastes simply disgusting. Firstly, lifeless, secondly, faded. So, not for everyone...

How much does Luwak coffee cost?

The cost of Luwak coffee is not just high, but very high. In general, it ranges from $250 to $1,200 per kilogram. The inability to obtain Luwak coffee in Indonesia on an industrial scale dictates high price on him.

But, despite the high cost, the goods are sold out with a bang!

There are no fewer people wanting to try this unusual coffee drink. Even the prohibitive cost of Luwak coffee does not stop enthusiasts. Everyone wants to understand what is so special about it. After a test, someone assures that he has figured it out, another only pretends, but in fact does not find anything special in it, and the third does not hide his annoyance at wasted money.

They sell Luwak coffee photos in chic, beautifully designed packaging. Well, of course, an expensive product should be presented as befits the level of prestige of the product! In beautiful jars, wooden boxes, in metallized bags. Packaged in both 100 and 1000 grams.

And they buy Luwak coffee from us; the price in Russia, if it differs from the world price in terms of rubles, is not radically different. Well, you need to understand that there is mark-up both due to transport costs and due to the intervention of resellers. So for a 300-gram package of Luwak coffee (price in Moscow) you need to pay a little more than five and a half thousand, for a 200-gram package - about five thousand.

If you like to experiment, be sure to try it.

And finally. There are many interesting videos on the Internet that can be loosely combined with the term coffee luwak video. In them you can glean information about the life activity of the Musang animal and how raw materials are collected in Indonesian forests. Thank you for your attention, see you again!

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 highly respect natural coffee, and this was the case in the old days. 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 a visit costs. 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. Here 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. Yes and to the common man, far from botany, it’s interesting 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 fastidious 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 too much 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, 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 chance 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’s why it was surprising to me, because I had tried this type of coffee before, but the taste was completely different. So from own experience I'm 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 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 it 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 ;)