civet coffee
By cambari
@cambari (30)
Philippines
December 3, 2006 9:25pm CST
in several countries is sold civet coffee. now this is simply coffee ingested and expelled by the civet, an animal related to the mongoose more than the cat.
the civet prowls the coffee plantation at night, picks and eats the optimally ripe coffee berries and digests the coffee cherry rind, BUT NOT THE COFFEE BEAN (else you won't have civet coffee). the civet's droppings are picked up by the people, cleaned of its several wraps, roasted, ground and drunk like ordinary coffee.
they swear though that it is more delicious and chocolatey than ordinary coffee (of any variety presumably) and imbibes it with relish.
some people say, however, that food from the body of an animal is abhorrent(as if chicken eggs is abhorrent!).
what do you say?
2 responses
@cambari (30)
• Philippines
4 Dec 06
not surprising. few people know about civet coffee,which is kopi luwak in Indonesia and kape alamid in Philippines.
but civet coffee was mentioned in an episode of CSI, where the perp was said to a civet coffee drinker. thus to find shops where civet coffee is sold is to find the suspect's whereabouts.
at least now you know it is one very rare and expensive coffee in the world. we can produce it by hundred kilos, though.
thanks.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
4 Dec 06
Big difference from chicken eggs: eggs come from the chicken's reproductive system, not its digestive/excretory system. Eggs don't come out of a chicken surrounded by feces.
I don't think I'll be drinking civet coffee anytime soon. But who knows, maybe in a few years it'll become the big thing at Starbucks!
I take it you've had civet coffee, what do you think? Does it taste richer or chocolately?
@cambari (30)
• Philippines
4 Dec 06
yes the chicken. but i'm talking about orifices.
anyway, the common conception is that the civet coffee beans come out the civet amidst the fecal matter.actually, the bean's aril --that inner plant membrane wrapping the bean-- remains intact. also the digestive process builds a thin mucus membrane around the beans, so that the beans never gets in contact with the fecal matter.
when we pick up the (dried) coffee beans in the wilds, they resemble sausages filled with tiny marbles, which actually are the beans themselves enclosed by a membrane. upon breaking them up for cleaning,we have to remove the very thin aril from the individual beans, else the beans won't roast good. the aroma is not released and uneven browning occurs. it tastes flatter, too.
yes, i've drunk a lot of civet coffee and it tastes a bit different from ordinary coffee.it has no bitter aftertaste, a bit chocolatey if a tiny bit milder, does not make me sweat as instant coffee, tastes better too.
you know, it is better to roast the civet coffee a little time before using it,so you get the full aroma and taste. of course it applies to ordinary coffee, too, but with civet coffee it just is better.
