Sunday, July 20, 2014

Day 4 : Kopi Luwak

We drove past stretches of green, lush tea plantations on the left and right. What a sight to behold.


And as promised by Eli, we stopped at a Penangkaran Luwak. That translate roughly to a "Civet Farm".

 Eli at the entrance of Penangkaran Luwak Cikole

The civet is a small mongoose-like creature and is reared here to produce kopi luwak.

 Here are some benefits of drinking Kopi Luwak

A staff holding a civet

The civet purportedly eats the ripest coffee beans. Give the civet 1 kg of Arabica coffee berries, and the creature selects to eat only a quarter of  those. These picky eaters eat only the best quality fruits!

The civet eats the berries for their pulps but is unable to digest the beans. But before it defecates,   fermentation occurs in its digestive tract, as  enzymes percolate into the beans. This process breaks down the proteins in the beans creating a unique and exotic flavor. 

Coffee beans amidst dried civet fecal deposits

The coffee beans are then washed and dried, husked, roasted and ground. 

 Drying the beans .... 

 The best beans are round

 10 15g sachets sell for IDR290,000

Out of curiosity for its taste, I treated myself to a cuppa ... 

 Kopi Luwak, IDR35,000 a cup

I found the brew here to be thick and strong, robust, bitter but with a distinctive hint of sweet aftertaste. But then, I am not a coffee connoisseur and I could not really appreciate its flavour and taste. I drank it like I drank any other coffee. What an anti-climax, right? 

We had some snacks with our coffee, complements of the farm .... 

 Tapioca balls

What a surprise. There was palm sugar inside. We loved this snack! 

 Deepfried banana rolls

 Sof and sweet banana wrapped in a crispy skin. What a play of texture ... 

Lumpia or Deep-fried spring roll

Very savoury and textural. Loved it!!


Finished my cuppa ... 

made our purchases, said goodbye to the staff ... and left. That was my first experience with Kopi Luwak. 

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