Coffee Luwak
Worth knowing
Kopi Luwak is a specialty coffee from Indonesia. "Kopi" means "coffee" in Indonesian and "luwak" is the name of a "creeping cat" involved in the production of this coffee. Our coffee beans come from Bali, where the climatic conditions for coffee cherries are optimal and where the free-living Luwaks are native. The Luwaks prefer to feed only on the best coffee cherries with the perfect degree of ripeness, which have a particularly sweet pulp. The pulp is digested and the coffee beans are excreted and fermented. These coffee beans are collected and further processed. This fermenting process gives the coffee beans their exceptional taste.
Luwak
Luwaks are native to all of South and Southeast Asia. They are nocturnal solitary animals and spend the day sleeping on branches forks or in tree hollows. When night falls, they become active and feed on various fruits.
​
Free-living Luwaks
At Mel Coffee Luwak we pay close attention to the welfare of the animals. Our partner plantation is a cooperation of different regional farmers, located high in the mountains of Bali. The free-living Luwaks feed on coffee cherries, mango, bananas and many other fruits grown by the farmers on the plantation in the kilometer-sized plantations. As creatures of habit, they always do their poop in the same place. This makes picking up the excreted beans easier for the farmers and a lucrative sideline.
Production
The production of coffee Luwak is unique. The way it is obtained makes the coffee Luwak exceptional and distinguishes it from other coffees.
This coffee is collected from the droppings of wild and free-living Luwaks that live on our farmers plantations in Bali. They like to feed on coffee cherries, berries and fruits. In the case of the preferred coffee cherries, they can only digest the pulp. The coffee beans are already fermented in their digestive tract for the first time. The coffee beans never come into direct contact with the intestinal contents of the Luwak during the entire digestive process, because the bean is surrounded by a protective, thin but very resistant layer of parchment.
Certain enzymes in the intestine trigger wet fermentation during the digestion process, which changes the taste of the coffee. Among other things, during the process, bitter substances in the coffee are split and the beans also contain less acidity and lower caffeine content after roasting. The coffee beans found are well cleaned, dried in the sun, the parchment layer is removed and then roasted. These characteristics give coffee Luwak a unique blend of sweetness and acidity that is retained during the roasting process.
Our high quality coffee Luwak is generally smooth, full-bodied with earthy notes and offers a delicate caramel experience on the finish. As with all natural products, origin, processing, bean type, and brewing method can have a significant impact on taste.
​
History
Commercial cultivation of Arabica coffee began in the 18th century. When the islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali belonged to the Dutch colonial empire, coffee plants were imported from the Arabian Peninsula. The original inhabitants were not allowed to taste and plant coffee themselves. The workers on the plantations noticed that the luwak ate the coffee cherries and the coffee bean remained intact in the feces. So the farmers cleaned the beans to roast them and started brewing their own coffee. This was the beginning of the famous coffee Luwak.
Shop
Frequent questions
You ask. We answer.
​
Why is coffee Luwak so expensive?
The free-living Luwaks move freely on the coffee plantations and pick out only the ripest and best coffee cherries to eat. This preference and collecting in the wild, like truffle hunting, is time consuming and not very productive. Due to the rarity and more complex production process, coffee Luwak has a high price.
How do I know if I am buying original coffee Luwak?
Compared to regular coffee beans, coffee Luwak beans contain almost 25% less caffeine. To be able to prove this, Mel Coffee Luwak has every delivery tested by a Swiss laboratory for caffeine content.
You can find more information about the analysis here:
What does the coffee Luwak taste like?
Our high-quality coffee Luwak is generally smooth, full-bodied with an earthy note and offers a delicate caramel experience at the end. As with all coffees, origin, processing, bean type and brewing method can have a significant impact on taste.