Kopi Luwak

Kopi Luwak coffee now seems to suffer the same problems that Kona coffee has endured for many years, fake and misleading labeling and packaging. First, what is Kopi Luwak anyway? You know, the coffee that sells for $120.00 per half pound and is retrieved from the excrement, or for a more pop culture word 'the poop', of a civet. Kopi Luwak has become popular in upscale coffee shops and resturants not only in the mainland USA but worldwide. You saw Jack Nicholson drinking it in 'Bucket List'.

One attribute of Kopi Luwak coffee is purported to be that the beans are fermented in the civets digestive system which gives the coffee it's delicate flavor. Our Kona coffee is also fremented but we do it the old fashioned way. After hand picking the cherry (ripe beans) and pulping them, we give them a warmish water bath, letting the sugary substances ferment overnight, something like how fine wines get fermented. The beans are then rinsed and set out to dry.

On a search on Amazon I found a 7oz package of Kopi Luwak coffee for $45.00. Upon reading the package label it said 2% Kopi Luwak and the rest other arabica blends. Aha, BLENDS!! Sounds familiar to me. A 10% blend of Kona coffee (with the rest other arabica blends) selling at $8.00 for 7oz is no more a bargain than the fake Kopi Luwak.

Kopi Luwak is supposed to be marvelous but I don’t have the fortitude to test it. I’ll just stick with my 100% homegrown gentle hand processed Kona Lisa Coffee.