From poo to expensive brew

New Straits Times 22 Jul 11;

THERE is gold in faeces, literally speaking. This is at least true in the droppings of civets. The wild creature, which belongs to the cat family (felidae), is locally known as musang, or luwak in Indonesia.

Civet is one of the worst pests for farmers, besides monkeys, squirrels and rodents. Most farmers trap the cats to kill them, but some farmers see civets as money spinners.

The omnivorous civet is a nocturnal predator, and feeds on fruits, berries and small birds.

Civets are said to pluck and consume coffee berries at night, and discharge the faeces at intervals just before dawn.

Farmers say it is easy to spot a civet's stool, which resembles the tubes of soggy nuts found in a nutty-rich chocolate bar, and smells like raw chocolate.

The stools are collected, rinsed and the beans separated, sun-dried, roasted and ground into powder -- this is kopi luwak, or civet coffee, the most expensive coffee in the world, with the beans fetching a price of up to US$1,000 (RM3,100) per kilogramme.

Civet coffee originated from Indonesia during the Dutch occupation.

Records show the Dutch introduced the premium arabica coffee as a cash crop in Sumatra and Java, but prevented the native farmers from plucking the berries for their own consumption.

To fulfil their craving for the coffee, the natives started collecting the faeces of civets, and processed them into coffee beans.

They brewed coffee from the semi-fermented beans and sensed a unique aromatic flavour in the beverage. Soon, the news reached the Dutch, who tried, and later got addicted to the beverage.

Today civet or luwak coffee beans are the most prized and highly sought after commodity, not only in Indonesia, but in other South East Asian countries, including Malaysia.

As civet droppings are not found in large quantities, it explains why the coffee commands such a high price in the market.

Although it is not easy to get roasted civet coffee beans in the country, the coffee is available in limited outlets, with varying prices.

A coffee outlet in Kuala Lumpur has tagged a mug of civet coffee at RM168, while in Johor Baru, it is sold at two Kopitian outlets at RM50 each per mug.

In neighbouring Singapore, it is priced at about S$60 (RM145) a mug, and in Taiwan, 500 yuan (RM50) a mug.

As the beverage is fetching such a good price, some farmers in Johor have started collecting civet faeces to supplement their income.

Farmer Phang Kim Yon, 40, of Bukit Batu in southern Johor, said there are two coffee harvesting seasons a year, which are also the best time to collect the faeces.

"They are everywhere. Sometimes, I find it along rural roads. Civets can be fussy. They only feed on the berries of certain trees and they know how to choose the best coffee berries," he said.

Records show civet coffee taste better as it is the product of enzyme reaction in the digestive tract of the civet.

A kilogramme of civet faeces can produce about 500g of roasted coffee beans.

Due to the good prospect of civet coffee, farmers are hoping that the government will promote the growing of coffee trees by offering incentives as a bigger harvest would mean more faeces for collection.

They are also hopeful the government will promote the locally-produced kopi luwak, which is still obtained through the natural way.