The world might have paid little attention to the Asian palm civet, were it not for the Dutch settlers who planted coffee trees on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, some 300 years ago.
Before then, this long-bodied, short-legged, tree-climbing mammal dined on the islands’ fruits, berries, small mammals and insects. But as the coffee plants grew, the cat like creatures found they had a new delicacy to try.
Coffee cherries are the small, round fruit that grow on coffee plants, and contain the beans that we know and love.
The civets tried them, liked them, and when the plantation owners realised that the beans passed straight through the animals, they instructed their workers to scoop the civets’ poop and sift out the beans. Waste not, want not, after all.
Then a bizarre thing happened. People tried the coffee made from the civets’ recycled beans and they liked it. It had a unique flavour, that’s been described as chocolatey, syrupy, earthy and musty, with ‘jungle’ undertones. And so, Kopi Luwak coffee was born.
While the civets remain in South and Southeast Asia, the unusual coffee is now exported all over the world, and because of its unusual provenance, Kopi Luwak has become one of the most expensive coffees you can buy.
A cup of wild civet coffee retails for anywhere between $20 to $100 (approx £15 to £80). But is it worth it?
In the wild, civets are thought to choose the most ripe and perfect coffee cherries, a selection process that helps to improve the coffee’s flavour. Then, as the bean passes through the animals’ digestive tracts, enzymes and gastric juices cut through the cherries’ outer layers and break down internal proteins.
This further refines the flavour and aroma of he coffee beans. Good for coffee drinkers, but not so good for the civets.
Asian palm civets are predominantly solitary beasts that only come together to mate. They’re also deeply territorial and use scent to communicate in the form of faeces, urine and a pungent, waxy substance released from specialised glands near the anus.
With a white mask across the forehead of their otherwise dark faces, their mottled and cryptic fur helps to camouflage them among the dappled shadows of the forests where they live. And like all wild animals, they like nothing more than to be left alone to lead a wild life.
But growing demand for Kopi Luwak coffee is fuelling the rise of Asian palm civet farms. Wild animals are being captured and confined to small battery cages, where they’re force-fed coffee cherries and little else.
Deprived of a proper diet, exercise and space, most don’t last long, so while the rich enjoy a cup of Kopi Luwak, wild civet populations in Indonesia are suffering.
Although there’s a quota on the number of civets that can be removed from the wild in Indonesia, it’s largely ignored by hunters and not enforced by authorities. All this for a cup of coffee.
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