How does civet coffee get rid of the image of cat shit? Is Kopi Luwak really cat shit?

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The number of coffee drinkers in China is increasing, and the pursuit of good coffee has become an addiction.

When it comes to the top coffee, everyone is different, but the most expensive coffee is civet coffee; it is not a variety of coffee, but a mammal ─ coconut cat (a kind of civet) that lives in the forests of Southeast Asia. It eats the coffee fruit on trees, and because the hard coffee seeds are not easy to digest, they will eventually be excreted with the cat.

Coffee seeds fermented by coconut cat stomach juice greatly reduce their bitter taste and produce a special fragrance, which is regarded as a rare treasure by hobbyists, but coffee beans are picked up from cat droppings, although they have been washed, but they are not good, and some people are discouraged.

Fortunately, Taiwan's biotech industry is booming. Some operators precipitate probiotics from civets' feces, multiply them in large numbers in the laboratory, and then carry out in vitro hot fermentation of coffee beans, so that civet coffee can get rid of its cat poop image.

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A few years ago, there was a Hollywood movie The Bucket List (Taiwan translated into "play all the way to hang" and the mainland translated as "bucket list").

Starring Jack Nixon (Jack Nicholson) and Morgan Freeman (Morgan Freeman), who play the roles of upper-class and lower-middle-class people, Jack Nicholson decided to take Morgan Freeman on his deathbed to pay for wishes that he could not even dream of, one of which was to taste civet coffee, showing his status in the upper class.

Muscat coffee is the most famous in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Taiwan's understanding of civet coffee began with the "2003 Taiwan International Fine Food and equipment Exhibition," which was held at the World Trade Center in Taipei at the end of that year. Participants in the coffee industry sold civets coffee at a price of 1800 yuan per cup, which was an astonishing price, so it became a hot topic in the news.

Civet Coffee, also known as Kopi Luwak, English civet coffee, Indonesian for Kopi Luwak, the Philippines called kape motit, kape alamid, kape melo, kape musang; according to Indonesian, Kopi means coffee, Luwak means cat shit.

Although called civet coffee, it is one of the species of civet coconut cat (also known as Asian coconut cat, scientific name: Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), it lives in Indonesia's Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi and other islands, as well as the Philippines and some parts of the forest.

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Like other members of the civet family, coconut cats have a gland near their sexual organs that secrete milky grease, which has always been a precious ingredient in the perfume industry, and even one of William Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, King Lear, has a dialogue: "Please give me some civet oil to stimulate my inspiration."

For a long time, people have hunted and killed a large number of members of the civet family in order to collect musk, and due to overexploitation of the forest, the habitat has been seriously destroyed, and the number of coconut cats has plummeted and is on the verge of extinction. Now it has been listed as a conservation mammal.

The coconut cat is an arboreal wild animal that forages at night. It is a gourmet. It only eats the sweetest fruit with the right maturity on the tree. Coffee fruit is its favorite food.

The coconut cat does not have good eyesight at night, but fortunately it has an extremely keen sense of smell. It can sniff out the most ripe, sweet, juicy red coffee fruit (coffee cherry) on the coffee tree.

The skin and flesh of the coffee fruit are digested in the body, but the coffee seeds are too hard to digest and are finally excreted.

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The acceptance of poop coffee is polarized

It is said that Indonesian farmers were the first to pick up coffee beans from coconut cat feces to make coffee. Farmers found that the coffee beans fermented by the civets' intestines and stomach were particularly thick and mellow, so they scrambled to collect civets' feces, sift out the coffee beans and brew them to drink.

Due to its low output and high price, civet coffee has become the most expensive coffee in the world, and civet droppings have become the most expensive feces in the world. When the Chinese step on dog shit by mistake, they are called "stepping on gold" in order to get rid of bad luck. in fact, civet droppings are truly gold. the most expensive wild civet coffee is produced in Sumatra, Indonesia. the international market sells for about NT $9, 000 to NT $12000 per pound.

After the coffee beans are fermented in the coconut cat's stomach, they destroy the protein and produce more free amino acids, which reduces the bitterness of the coffee. Coffee beans are excreted, washed, peeled and roasted to become civet coffee.

Through the "natural treatment" of coconut cat digestion, fermentation and aroma secretion, caffeine produces a unique flavor, and then baked at a temperature above 400 degrees Fahrenheit, the full-bodied fragrance is completely released.

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How good is the civet coffee?

The perception is polarized, like stinky tofu in Taiwan. People who love it never get tired of it, but there are also many people who hate it. Those who love civet coffee describe it as having a jade-like taste, and its rich, round and sweet taste is incomparable to other coffee beans, such as honey and chocolate, which can be called the best in the world.

Contemporary coffee critic Chris Rubin said, "the aroma of the wine is so rich and strong, and the coffee is incredibly rich, almost like syrup." It is as thick as chocolate and lingers on the tongue for a long time with a pure aftertaste. " .

But the naysayers point out that the civet coffee is too thick and tastes unusual, difficult to describe, a little earthy, slightly choking and visceral, and lingers in the mouth for a long time until the last drop. Some people say that it is difficult to swallow and it is not worth paying for stinky coffee.

Generally speaking, Indonesian coffee originally has the taste of earth and traditional Chinese medicine, and its consistency is also the highest in all continents. The musk cat coffee in this place has a stronger taste and consistency, which is almost close to syrup, and the flavor is very special. if people who don't like Indonesian coffee in the first place, they must hate civet coffee even more. if you prefer the fishy smell of Indonesian aged beans or Indian-style soiled beans, you may fall in love with civet coffee with similar flavor.

The flavor of artificial feeding is poor.

It is worth mentioning that if the residue after the first brew of coffee is barely brewed and drunk again, it will have the smell of clay, metal, medicine and subtilis, but the crystal clear and impurity-free civet coffee has a unique and full texture that can be brewed three times and is still sweet.

The reason why civet coffee is so precious lies in its mellow taste, no sour or astringent taste, no need to add any cream or sugar, and no need to worry about the side effects of palpitations or insomnia even if you drink too much. Break the myth that traditional coffee beans should not be brewed repeatedly.

The first brew of civet coffee can feel chocolate with a touch of red wine, the second bubble is full-bodied taste, and the third bubble is to taste the sweetness of honey coffee. No wonder coffee drinkers will flock to it.

The reason why the price of civet coffee is high, in addition to its own unique flavor, but also due to the sharp decline in the number of coconut cats, the annual production is only about 500 pounds, or even out of stock for four consecutive years, the so-called scarcity is precious.

In order to meet the market demand, coconut cat artificial farms began to appear in some areas, including Indonesia, the main producing area of civet coffee, to facilitate the adoption of more civet coffee. Sumatra, Indonesia is a well-known producing area of wild and captive civet coffee. It is said that most of the wild civet coffee in Sumatra is Coffee Arabica at high altitude, and most of it is from old trees. Some of the captive civets are mixed with low-altitude Coffee Robusta and Arabica beans, or even all of them are robusta beans.

According to coffee experts, most of the civet coffee on the market is artificially raised civet coffee.

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Is the flavor of wild civet coffee consistent with that of captive civet coffee?

Facts show that there is still a gap between the latter and the former in flavor. Expert analysis points out that coconut cats are omnivorous animals. Apart from eating seeds for a living, they also eat insects, snakes, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Therefore, the feces discharged by real wild coconut cats will be mixed with various substances, while artificially raised coconut cats only feed coffee beans, which may cause the difference between the two.

In spite of this, people who are addicted to gourmet coffee are still satisfied with the flavor of civet coffee produced on artificial farms; moreover, even civet coffee produced on artificial farms still costs $400 a kilogram, which is still a luxury for the average consumer.

Vietnamese mink coffee fakes are in the majority

There is a similar civet coffee in Vietnam, which is called ─ mink coffee by locals.

As we all know, Brazil in South America is the largest coffee producer in the world. Vietnam, which has always been rich in coffee, has surpassed other regions since 2002 to become the second largest coffee producer in the world, second only to Brazil.

Mink coffee is the top coffee in Vietnam, which is processed by coffee farmers picking up coffee beans from mink faeces.

In the mountains of the Vietnamese plateau, which is 800 meters above sea level, during the coffee season, male minks often come early in the morning to select targets, and wait until evening to bring female minks and offspring to pick food together for about two or three hours each time. An hour after eating, it begins to excrete indigestible coffee seeds, and the next day, experienced coffee farmers find the coffee seeds they excreted and collect them.

Due to the lack of sugar and cream in Vietnam, sweet condensed milk is used instead to make coffee with French style. As a result, Vietnamese mink coffee has a strong creamy flavor, and in order to hide the earthy flavor and other miscellaneous flavors, heavy roasting is used. Of course, Vietnamese mink coffee is not equal to Indonesian civet coffee, but in the UK, the top mink coffee produced in Vietnam still sells for more than NT $3400 per 57gm.

Precisely because of the high price, there are many fakes made from artificial spices. In the Vietnamese market, 70% to 80% of mink coffee is seasoned counterfeit, which is difficult for ordinary consumers to identify, but expert coffee drinkers can tell after a sip, and they are often unable to swallow. Chang Cheng-ting, a coffee maker, points out that both Indonesian civet coffee and top Vietnamese mink coffee are thick coffee that can be brewed in two or three bubbles.

The first bubble has a strong taste, slippery entrance and fragrant teeth and cheeks.

The second juice is still like black ink, it will taste sweet after drinking, it smells like wood, and the juice is rich in oil.

Zhang Zhengting said that after the real civet coffee is brewed for the second time, the coffee grounds look as delicate as melted chocolate and can be used as a standard to tell whether they are true or false.

TVBS screenshot Taitung fermented coffee in vitro

Photo taken from: TVBS News (YOUTUBE)

Taitong successfully developed masked palm civet Coffee

During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese government systematically planted Arabica coffee in Taiwan to supply the Japanese market nearby. after the war, coffee was replaced by ─ black tea, which was exported, and then black tea trees were cut down and replaced by betel nut trees full of mountains and valleys.

After the September 21 earthquake, when the government rebuilt the disaster area, Yunlin Ancient Pit, with the theme of finding the glory of Coffee Mountain during the Japanese occupation, unexpectedly made local coffee popular, driving the atmosphere of growing coffee all over Taiwan, and coffee trees could be seen under betel nut trees in the mountains.

Taitung's climate and topography are also suitable for growing coffee, but Gukeng Coffee is famous in the first place, and it is not easy to open its popularity. In order to establish its own style and characteristics, Taitung coffee farmers follow the successful model of civet Coffee and try to produce high-end coffee to separate the market. It's just that there is no sign of coconut cats in Taiwan, but there is masked palm civet (Formosan Masket Civet, also known as Blackfoot, Blackfoot Musk, or White nose Heart).

As a member of the civet family, the coconut cat has a gland that can secrete musk. Although masked palm civet does not have the same gland that secretes musk, he has a caudal gland sac, which can also produce incense, so it is classified as one of the civets subspecies.

Masked palm civet also likes to eat ripe coffee fruit, but farmers try to feed masked palm civet with ripe coffee fruit and then pick up coffee seeds in their feces. The flavor of the coffee is not very good.

It was not until the mountain pig farm in Peinan Township applied for an innovative R & D subsidy for small and medium-sized enterprises of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and applied the "Taiwan masked palm civet intestinal probiotics microbial culture technology" innovated and developed by the Industrial and Technical Research Institute, did they successfully produce high-end coffee with a quality similar to that of civet coffee.

The most important feature of this technique is that coffee is fermented in vitro with probiotics from the gastrointestinal tract of civet, which does not have to be digested through the gastrointestinal tract of civet and then excreted with feces, so as to get rid of the bad impression that musk cat coffee is associated with cat stool.

Its production principle is to first feed masked palm civet with mature coffee fruit, wait until the feces are discharged, and then take the feces to the laboratory, isolate four kinds of lactic acid bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of fruit beavers as bacteria, and then propagate in large quantities in petri dishes. On the other hand, after the coffee is harvested, without washing, the natural sugar, pectin and natural enzymes of the coffee are preserved, and then the probiotics multiplied in the laboratory are used to carry out in vitro thermal fermentation with the coffee, and the temperature and time are strictly controlled to bake the product. The farm takes masked palm civet musk-flavored coffee as its famous brand and sells it on the Internet.

Biotech company step into civet coffee

In addition, Tianyi fungus Biotechnology Farm, which has been founded for more than 20 years and is one of the pioneers of cultivating the mycelium of bovine camphor mushrooms and Cordyceps sinensis in China, also invested in the research and development of in vitro thermally fermented civet coffee two years ago. The farm isolated the source of probiotics and gave up masked palm civet in Taiwan. but it is free to collect civets faeces.

Because the farm has rich experience in fungal culture and is very skilled in technology, it can be said that it is easy to breed the probiotics in the digestive juice of civets.

Wang Zhongmin, director of Tianyi fungal Biotechnology Farm, pointed out that in addition to the key techniques for the isolation, culture and reproduction of probiotics, the production of in vitro hot fermented civet coffee is also very important for the screening of coffee bean varieties. The farm spent two years trying 15 different coffee beans, and the results showed that one of them had the best effect and the flavor was closest to the wild civet coffee. As for which one, Wang Zhongmin is not convenient to disclose, because it is a very important trade secret.

Wang Zhongmin also pointed out that with successfully fermented coffee beans, roasting technology is also an extremely important key, accounting for 70% of the success or failure factors. Improper baking, the front of all the painstaking efforts fell short. The flavor will not come out if the baking is too light, while the overheated smell will mask the proper flavor. He visited more than a dozen domestic coffee bean roasters from north to south, ran 5,000 kilometers back and forth, consumed 500 kilograms of coffee beans, and finally found a roaster who had the right skills.

Wang Zhongmin said that in vitro hot fermentation of civet coffee has a number of advantages, can increase production, meet market demand, so that civet coffee is no longer out of stock, the price will also be reduced, and slow down price fluctuations.

The price of externally fermented civet coffee on the farm is only 1/26 of that of wild civet coffee. How much is the difference in flavor? After a blind drink test, some experts said: "the high temperature taste is as similar as 90% to the real civet coffee beans." .

The most important thing is that under the strict control of the laboratory, the quality is stable, free from factors such as coconut cat feeding and disease, and is more secure in health and safety. What's more, although the flavor of wild musk cat coffee is mellow, it has a little soil flavor, visceral flavor and other miscellaneous flavor, which is not acceptable to everyone.

And pick it up from the civet droppings, which also deters some people. The in vitro fermented civet coffee has a simple flavor without any miscellaneous flavor, and its aroma is mellow than ordinary coffee. It is not bitter but not astringent in the mouth, and it is easy to return to sweet (because coffee fruit acid and fructose are converted into caramel). After drinking, the bottom of the cup will also give out an obvious caramel fragrance, smelling it relaxing and pleasant!