'Kopi luwak', the world's most expensive coffee

'Kopi luwak', the world's most expensive coffee

Elvera N. Makki, Contributor/Houston, Texas

Are you a coffee aficionado?

If your answer is yes, then you must try kopi luwak. It's the
most expensive coffee you can buy here.

Another thing is, it is also the rarest coffee ever. You
cannot find this in major cafes, even in Indonesia itself.

So beware of fake kopi luwak. When I was on vacation in
Jakarta a couple months ago, I was intrigued by a kopi luwak
advertisement in a well-known women's magazine.

Surprisingly, during the phone conversation with the marketing
officer, he honestly explained that it was not genuine kopi luwak
that his company was selling: It contained no kopi luwak
ingredients. The company simply used the brand name solely for
commercial purposes.

Kopi is Indonesian for coffee. A luwak (civet) is a tree-
dwelling animal that lives mainly in Sumatran jungles, climbs
coffee trees and eats only the ripest, reddest coffee berries.

Also known as Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, this animal digests
the coffee beans in such a way that they turn out to be fully
wrapped, clean and fairly intact when excreted.

It is not yet known how local farmers got the idea at the
start to gather luwak feces, which contained coffee beans.
Perhaps one thing that they did not expect was that they had
found something valuable, which was to become an Indonesian best-
seller.

At kopi luwak wholesalers, the unroasted product costs about
US$250 per kilo while roasted beans may cost about US$600 per
kilo. Several coffee shops sell it at a premium price of US$5 per
cup -- beating the price of any other coffee for the same
quantity.

"Of course, the rarity of this coffee has made it exclusive
and pricey," said Lenny Cooper, the owner of LJ Cooper Co., an
established U.S. company that provides world-class specialty
coffee beans from around the globe, including Sulawesi and
Sumatra.

The fact that luwak are not held in captivity and the way the
beans are processed has made them extremely scarce.

"Only 250 kilograms of the beans are produced annually. My
portion is around 40 kilograms," added Cooper, whose company has
become the largest kopi luwak supplier in the United States.

Cooper mentioned that it took years to find a reliable, stable
supplier of kopi luwak beans, which, unfortunately, is not
Indonesian-owned but rather Daarhnour from the Netherlands; they
put him in touch with the plantation owner in Sumatra.

From there, he has distributed the coffee to dozens of buyers,
mostly in the western and eastern parts of the U.S., with his
biggest client, M.P Mountanos Inc., located in Los Angeles.

"We have experienced a shortage of kopi luwak since last year.
There has been no shipping for a couple of months," complained
Cooper. "If I could get 10 tonnes of the beans, I would guarantee
I'd be able to sell it all easily."

Cooper, who orders two tonnes of the beans every year,
believes that importing kopi luwak is a very lucrative business,
although it only contributes about 1 percent of his total
business revenue, so that uncertainties over coffee shipment
arrivals will not unduly affect his overall business.

"But I am not talking about total revenue here; rather, it is
more about how to provide the most exclusive coffee to a niche
market." said Cooper.

"I have been asked to sell robusta kopi luwak, which is
cheaper. I refused to sell it: It's not the real thing!"

Furthermore, discerning customers would notice the taste,
which is known to be uniquely earthy, musty and almost syrupy.

"I tried kopi luwak two years ago at a small gathering at my
friend's house," said Maria Lopez, a Houstonian who describes
herself as a coffee addict. "Frankly speaking, it was a no-no for
me to drink a beverage made from animal feces; I mean, come on,"
she chuckled.

After her friend had roasted the beans, she could not help but
try it. "The aroma was so damn good, very exotic, rich and
strong."

"From the moment I sipped it, I knew it was Sumatran coffee,
but it had a different flavor -- something between caramel and
chocolate. It was very smooth as well."

It was a different story for Rinto Muhammadsyah, who tried
kopi luwak at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"I was just curious to try the most sought-after coffee in the
world. At least I had the experience of drinking it."