How to spot Authentic Luwak Coffee

[scoffea_luwak]

Do you want to taste the world’s most expensive and exotic Luwak coffee but worried with so many fake product in the market?

Below are some important characteristics to guide you differentiate Authentic and Fake kopi Luwak/Civet coffee:

1. Luwak coffee has different aromas compare to Arabica and Robusta coffee. Luwak bean’s aroma in general is more fragrant (sense of pandan and green tea leaves) and stronger compare to regular coffees that have sense of stale rice.
2. In microscopic scale, luwak green bean doesn’t have the black spots on its surface that normally can be found on ordinary beans.
3. Cuticle of kopi luwak green bean can be easily dislodged. While the ordinary coffee is pretty difficult to be removed.
4. The taste of luwak coffee in general is less bitter, has richer flavor, nutty and caramel flavor, fruity aftertaste, thick like syrup, and full body. The maximum taste can be achieved with correct dosage, perfect roasting method, and excellent brewing technique. At SCOFFEA, we sample our bean frequently as part of our standard procedure to ensure the highest luwak coffee delivered. We also provide some brewing guideline to our customer to get optimum taste (by request).
5. Luwak coffee has lower caffeine (5-20%) and acidity. This means Luwak coffee is safer to be consumed especially by those people with high palpitation, gastric problem, lesser urinate.

Find the best and 100% authentic Arabica organic Luwak coffee at scoffea.com

 

[ensoluna]

I had a cup of Kopi Luwak in Jakarta, Indonesia... about 10 years ago when I was in different industry. I always had interests in coffee since way back then, and it was the perfect chance for me to try out when I was in Jakarta. I asked my customer to take me to the coffee shop that is most well known for selling authentic Luwak coffee. As soon as I went into the shop, there were window display after display of the "poor" stuffed civet animals along with "very well displayed" their craps that contains whole bunch of dried up coffee beans. Actually it looked like 90% coffee beans that were connected with dried up cat-poops and string-like fibers..... Not a pleasant thoughts.. by the way, civet is somewhat cross between cat + possum + rat like. Can't really say they are cute nor cuddly. Matter of fact, kind of scary to see so many of them in the coffee house........ definitely they over did it.

Anyway, it was not appetizing at all, to say the least... But since I was there, I had to try the most expensive coffee in the world.
$20 bucks! for 8oz drip coffee. In Indonesia, that is like couple of days of salary of a regular person !

Do I remember the taste? of course NOT.
Does it worth the money? Hell-No.
Do I have the bragging right? mmmmmmmmmmaybe... not sure.

Also, I have heard and read from magazines that Indonesian farmers are keeping the civets in cages and enclosures where the civets are fighting each other in very unhealthy conditions. it seems like in order to get the coffee business going, they are turning a blind eye to the wild life suffering. (BTW, a single civet needs 17 sq km of territory, I heard).
And I have heard that the civet coffee beans on the ground for more than 24 hours can be infected with fungi and it will be almost impossible to tell how long a dropping has been out in the wild (unless they keep those poor civets in a tight cages or following a civet around all night is the only way to guarrante the real kopi luwak (as fresh as it can be.... yeah)

Will Kopi Luwak replace my regular coffee that I bring from Guatemala? Yeah, Right! I have to sell 100 pounds of huehue SHB to buy 8 oz of cat poop coffee. Un-likely.

Is it the best coffee in the world? I am nowhere close to be a connoisseur to be able to tell you this, but most of the reviews I have read have been "A DISAPPOINTMENT". by the way, time magazine claims that about 40% of Kopi Luwak in the market are "fakes"... I do not really want to know how they can make the fake crap-coffee. that is a scary thoughts.

If you ask me, this is the perfect example of "marketing". I believe that only Jack Nicholson from Bucket List movie can afford to buy and enjoy this type of coffee in regular base.

For me, I will just stick with Pacamara, Mundo Novo for special occasions. and any freshly roasted SHB coffee from Huehue and Acatenango will do me just fine.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Ensoluna,

I had tried Kopi Luwak several times in the past.
And I feel pretty strong about the price and its flavor.
But why do you think they cost so much?
It is not just marketing scheme. Because there are so much demand for this coffee and they are hard to produce at large quantity.
The biggest Kopi Luwak buyers are not from America or Europe.
It is Japan.
They purchase I believe around 70 percent of all Kopi Luwak.

I do feel same way about it as you but Kopi Luwak is not for everyone. And they are not looking to sell 1000 pounds of coffee everyday. They are looking for that specific 1 percent market who would and willing to pay for authentic Kopi Luwak. And you and I are not in that group.... Thank God

CJ.

 

[peterjschmidt]

First post from a new person, and it's a sales pitch. :-(

 

[ensoluna]

But why do you think they cost so much? It is Japan. They purchase I believe around 70 percent of all Kopi Luwak.

hello CJ. thanks for the post and questions.
i believe they cost too much mainly because coffee is an acquired taste of an individual person. and the individual person (specially for those who has enough money to waste for their own gratification) sets the price of the coffee and few of others follow the "set-standard" to feel good about themselves and want to be separated from "common people".

Everything we have here in the world (not just coffee), we set the pricing.
Supply & Demand.

I know Japan's coffee culture very well. They have the money to buy some of the most expensive coffees for some specially selective people (which happens to be a lot in Japan for obvious reason) and since they buy 70%, obviously, this coffee's prices will be higher than any other coffee. Supply & Demand. Same for Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. Japan buys more than any other country which again makes the price way higher than what it is supposed to be. Same for Kona.

But my argument is that the price justify the quality of the coffee? when the quality of the coffee is decided mainly by individuals?

Some people (supposedly the real coffee lovers) love India's aged Malaga coffee. Some (even some of them are really coffee connoisseurs) can not even stand it and won't pay a penny for this. So, for some people, it is worth $30/per pound. for others, not a penny.

It is acquired taste and I just believe that I rather buy whole bunch of other better tasting coffee (in my personal opinion because coffee is generally personal taste) than just 8 oz of Luwak, JBM or Kona.

CJ, I am 100% certain that there are quite a bit of people who truly believes that Luwak is the best thing ever happened to them.
For me, again, it is not. it is just my personal opinion. Not a statement.

 

[ensoluna]

First post from a new person, and it's a sales pitch. :-(

well.... that is why i gave it a bit harsh comment about that posting and luwak coffee.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I don't think it was harsh but direct to the point.
In America, we are so bless to be able to get a hold of some of the best coffee in the world without dishing out 700dollars per kilo and that is another reason why we don't see the value in Kopi Luwak.
Also there are reasons for some product sells in certain country.

I am sure you know some of the product that never really sells in US that is considered to be highly sought after in other parts of the world.