Kopi Luwak
On a recent trip to Bali I was able to sample a rare type of coffee that I had heard about & never imagined that I'd try: Kopi Luwak.
Why is this coffee so special? I guess its due to the "additional" processing steps that the raw coffee berries go through.
In Indonesia a local wild animal, an Asian Palm Civet (above), eats the raw coffee berries when they are at the pinnacle of ripeness - it doesn't eat the over or under ripe berries. It does this for roughage to help its digestion. the berries then pass through the digestive tract & the stomach juices react with the berries.
The animal droppings (above) are then collected, cleaned, roasted & ground in the usual manner, though the little girl (below) was showing the traditional Balinese way of pounding the coffee beans rather than grinding.
The Kopi Luwak I had was prepared in the typical Balinese style: ground to almost a fine powder, to which hot water is added - no filtering of any kind. The coffee is allowed to settle before drinking.
After the first sip all I can say is: wow!! the taste, flavour, aroma, smoothness are all on a totally new level.
When converted into AUD, the Kopi Luwak at the plantation was for sale at AUD30.00 for 100g, so its not cheap! Unfortunately quarantine regulations prevented me from taking any home with me.
If you ever have the chance to try this coffee, do so, you wont be disappointed!
2 comments:
didn't know about that one but from now on I will definitely keep my eyes open for it, maybe the regulations are less strict here in Europe... anyway, keep on posting about how it was, what you ate etc etc, I am so curious and I suppose you going there is the closest I will ever get to Bali...
Hi Ilva, I know that it can be bought online, & I'm guessing some of the more dedicated coffee stores in Europe may also stock it. I was actually surprised with the number of Europeans who were in Bali, so possibly airfares aren't that expensive?
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