Posted Fri Nov 19, 2004, 6:57am Subject: Re: Coffee "through" the civet cat
I tried it about 10 years ago. There beans had no consistency in size, which I guess is to be expected, and when brewed it was not a 'smooth' cup of coffee. It had rough edges, and while it was not bad, it was not great. It has been so long that I only have these general recollections, nothing more consistent for you.
I am glad I tried it, it goes on my long list of 'exotic' things, I have eatened or drunk. I did not purchase it, I would not have spent that kind of money on it, and since it had been, well, I just had to try it.
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Posted Wed Jun 15, 2005, 11:53pm Subject: Re: Coffee "through" the civet cat
Which beans did he taste? The coffee ones or the bigger ones?
I drink espresso so I can work longer, so I can make more money, so I can drink more espresso, so I can work longer, so I can make more money, so I can drink more espresso...
Adesigner Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed May 21, 2008, 10:53pm Subject: Re: Coffee "through" the civet cat
I don’t believe many know much about this coffee so check out this link according to new research by a University of Guelph scientist published in Food Research International. Click Here (www.innovations-report.de) and after you read that, understand that there are imitation beans being sold with a bitter taste or as one of you put it, disgusting. In addition, the Civet bean that does not taste bitter and a bit like mocha and is smooth in taste. Allow me to quote Marcone's findings for the difference in taste; "Electrophoresis – a method that “fingerprints” proteins – was used to determine differences in the protein content of Kopi Luwak and control beans. The Kopi Luwak beans were found to be lower in total protein, meaning that proteins were partially broken down and leached out during their travel in GI tract of the Luwak.
This has the potential to affect the flavour and aroma of the beans, says Marcone. Proteins are responsible for much of the flavour, particularly bitterness. Since Kopi Luwak beans have less protein, they may produce a less bitter coffee, he says.
Analysis of the volatile compounds – also responsible for flavour and aroma – showed they were significantly different than the control, further indicating the potential for Kopi Luwak coffee having a different flavour than ordinary coffee."
So before you judge this coffee understand that many producers are just feeding the Civet any bean to produce this to just make big money. Really! Selling a cup of this gold coffee for up to 50 bucks per. Yep! 600 US dollar per kilo in Japan. The truth is that the Kopi Luwak only picks the best bean to eat not just any bean, which is what makes it so rare and a sought out taste. Don't buy a mass produced imitation. It will taste disgusting.
Adesigner Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed May 21, 2008, 10:59pm Subject: Re: Coffee "through" the civet cat
I see that the coffee geek change the hyperlink to innovations-report so I just pasted it all here. Sorry that the link does not take you to this page but open this PDF showing the web page. Thanks.
Adesigner Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed May 21, 2008, 11:07pm Subject: Re: Coffee "through" the civet cat
Ok, PDF don't upload here either I see. Tell me what I'm not doing but you can email me for the pdf of the report but here's a paste and copy of the text from it. Coffee geek help me out. When a Kopi Luwak coffee bean, the world’s most expensive coffee, comes out the other end of a large cat after it’s been eaten by the animal – called a civet or Luwak – the micro-structural properties of the beans are altered, according to new research by a University of Guelph scientist published in Food Research International.
They’re harder, more brittle and darker in colour than the same type of bean that hasn’t been eaten and digested by the three- to 10-pound tree-climbing animal found in Ethiopia and Indonesia. “The changes in the beans show that during transit through the civet’s GI track, various digestive biochemicals are actually penetrating the outer coffee cherry and reaching the actual bean surface, where a chemical colour change takes place,” said Massimo Marcone, author of “Composition and properties of Indonesian palm civet coffee (Kopi Luwak) and Ethiopian civet coffee.” Marcone is an adjunct professor in the Department of Food Science.
Marcone travelled to Ethiopia and Indonesia in 2003 to collect the rare coffee beans that cost $600 a pound. “During the night, the civet uses its eyesight and smell to seek out and eat only the ripest coffee cherries,” he said. “The coffee cherry fruit is completely digested by the Luwak, but the beans are excreted in their feces.”
The internal fermentation by digestive enzymes adds a unique flavour to the beans, which Marcone said has been described as “earthy, musty, syrupy, smooth and rich with jungle and chocolate undertones.”
Since people are paying $50 for each cup of Kopi Luwak, he wanted to determine whether or not they are actually getting a different kind of coffee. In addition to the differences in size, colour and hardness of the bean, he found that the lack of protein in the bean results in its superior taste.
“The civet beans are lower in total protein, indicating that during digestion, proteins are being broken down and are also leached out of the bean,” said Marcone. “Since proteins are what make coffee bitter during the roasting process, the lower levels of proteins decrease the bitterness of Kopi Luwak coffee.”
In the coffee industry, wet processed or fermented coffees are known to have superior flavour to dry-processed coffee, he said. “When coffee cherries are processed through the digestive track, they actually undergo a type of wet processing due to acidification in the stomach and fermentation due to the natural intestinal microflora. Lactic acid bacteria are preferred in wet processing systems. Lactic acid bacteria happen to be major colonizing bacteria in the civet’s digestive track.” The unique Kopi Luwak flavour could be due to the type of wet process the beans undergo in the animal’s digestive tracks, he said.
Although certified blinded human tasters could find little difference in the overall flavour and aroma of the beans, an electronic nose machine could detect that the aroma of the civet coffee beans is also affected.
So it tastes good, but is the coffee, having travelled trough an animal’s digestive track, safe to drink? Marcone found that although civet coffee beans are significantly more contaminated than regular beans, the civet beans on the market are actually quite clean. “Civet beans are typically extensively washed under running water after collection, which dislodges bacteria,” he said.
Marcone has also studied more common foods that have been processed through a living creature’s digestive track, including honey, edible birds’ nests and argan oil.
hauschildt Senior Member Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 16 Location: austin, tx Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Expobar Brewtus II Grinder: Mazzer Mini E
Posted Fri May 23, 2008, 11:53am Subject: Re: Coffee "through" the civet cat
the guys at http://www.portafilter.net/ produced a podcast of a kopi luwak cupping they did. mildly amusing. you can find it at the itunes store for free -- it's podcast #45.
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