The Indonesian “Kopi Luwak” [kopi’lu.ak] or the civet coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world. “Kopi Luwak” is made out of coffee beans, which are being consumed by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphrodites) and other linked civets and then goes through its digestive tract. The civet consumes berries for the fleshy pulp.
Proteolytic enzymes seep into these beans in the stomach generating shorter peptides and excess free amino acids. Beans are then defecated after passing through the civet’s intestine retaining their shapes. These beans are gathered through washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing to yield aromatic coffee with very little bitterness and widely known as the most expensive coffee in the world.
Kopi Luwak is produced chiefly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago and in Phillipines, where it is known as motit coffee in the Cordillera and cape alamid in Tagalog areas and available also in East Timor where it is called kafe-laku. The nearest English translation is Weasel coffee from the name caphe Ch?n in Vietnam where chemically replicated versions are also made.