The World's Most Expensive Coffee

[chibilito]

The source of the beans doesn't seem to be deterring coffee lovers with Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee) selling for up to $1,300 per kilo, making it the most expensive coffee in the world according to Forbes Magazine.

Drinkers swear that it tastes like no other coffee in the world. In Queensland, Australia one small café is selling Civet Coffee for AUS $50 per cup and the price doesn't seem to deter anyone - locals and tourists alike line up to try it.

Only around 500 kg of Civet Coffee is produced each year making it very rare to find and difficult to order. Its not uncommon for suppliers to run out of stock. The Kopi Luwak that is produced is sold mainly in the US and Japan although it is slowly being found elsewhere.

 

[coffeeloverlisa]

We sell Kopi Luwak and have a special on right now. Ours is genuine and like you say, nothing tastes like it. From the first whiff while it is brewing to the first taste from your cup, the fruity and exotic taste is incredible. But take care, much of what is being sold is not the real thing. A recent experience with one of our suppliers caught us off guard and we had to change.

Only by keeping track of each bean and knowing what is what can you truly know the true pleasures of this coffee. And spending $50-70 for the quarter pound, you can see that a group of friends at home can have an wonderful experience at a fraction of the cost of these coffee houses charging outrageous prices per cup, which quite frankly, is a total rip off.

I would only pay $50 for a cup for elixir from the holy grail.



Cheers!

Lisa

 

[PinkRose]

Hi Lisa,

I'll just have to take your word for it that the Kopi Luwak coffee is fruity and exotic, because no matter how rare and expensive it is, I'd be gagging just at the thought of where it comes from. I'd never make a conscious effort to drink it. Someone would have to "trick me" into thinking it was another kind of coffee...and considering how expensive it is, I doubt that would ever happen!

Rose

 

[coffeeloverlisa]

Understood, but know that the coffee beans go "In and out" in basically the same form and relatively unchanged. There is no poop involved really, just some digestion that holds the beans together. The deal here is the process just adds some flavor but mostly story to be honest. In the wild, the civets pick the best berries and that is why the coffee is so great.

Farmed Kopi Luwak is less preferable because the civets just eat what they are given. One of the reasons I dumped a supplier is because they offered Arabic and Robusta coffee beans. If Kopi Luwak is supposed to come from a tree in a forest, the height on a mountain should not matter, right?

Cheers,

Lisa

 

[shadow745]

I'd like to chime in here and add that just because certain origins cost more than others it does not indicate they will be far better. Just more or less a supply/demand issue in most cases.

I buy dry processed Ethiopia Sidamo (wholesale price of $7 per lb.) that is outstanding when used as drip and makes a nice addition to the Brazilian that is used in our spro for a nice balanced blend. Can't imagine many coffees being more fruity than it is, but that is my taste.

Will also say that I haven't tried Jamaican Blue, Kopi Luwak or real Kona simply because I won't pay the high prices for it.

Would also like to add that unless you have proper grinding/brewing equipment you probably won't be able to tell that some of these high priced coffees are any better than what you normally drink. Regardless of the beans used, when put through a $10 blade "grinder" and a $20 Mr. Coffee auto drip you won't get outstanding brew.

Whatever!

 

[cafemakers]

I strongly advise against the purchase of Kopi Luwak, as it supports animal cruelty, in addition to being a useless gimmick in the coffee world. Civet cats are now kept in wire cages by the thousands and force-fed coffee cherries in Indonesia; grim factories to support consumer demand for the curiosity (which is based solely on novelty and not actual flavor). Previously, 'free range' civet cats in the wild selected only the most ripe and sweet cherries to consume, which may have in part or whole led to the formerly acceptable taste of the excreted end product, but no longer.

Please send a message to the industry that you 1) care about coffee quality and 2) are not willing to torture animals just to shock dinner guests after serving coffee (ala "guess what you just drank). There are plenty of legitimate coffees available on the market that are nearly as expensive and likely a far better value.

 

[coffeeloverlisa]

Thank you for providing a very important and balanced point of view about Kopi Luwak, Andrew. You are absolutely right that lots of Kopi Luwak (probably most) comes from farmed resources that have more interest in profit than animal welfare. Opportunity and poverty will do that, or maybe just opportunity.

Rocketfuelcoffee.com Kopi Luwak comes from The Julia Campbell Agro-Forest Memorial Park in the Philippines, a 24 Hectare reserve where the park caretakers then allow the civets to dine on as much coffee as they like in this shade-grown, rainforest-covered coffee orchard. The company the helps us is called Bantai.

I guess at some level you may never approve or want Kopi Luwak. I just wanted to explain where www.rocketfuelcoffee.com's Kopi Luwak comes from.

Cheers!

Lisa