What is a Kopi Luak (Luwak)?
Kopi Luak is the worlds most rare and most expensive coffee. The name is derived from the Indonesian word for coffee, kopi, and the local Indonesian word for the palm civet, luak. It is produced on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi in Indonesia (a similar version, called Kape Alamid, is said to be produced in the Phillipines and another, called weasel coffee, is said to come from Vietnam). This coffee begins like any other coffee, a cherry growing on a tree. The luak, which are primarily tree dwelling animals, climb through the coffee trees, selecting the choicest, most ripe coffee cherries in the trees. They eat the cherries, but the seeds (coffee beans) in the cherries are not digestible in their system. Instead the beans are glued together in their stomach prior to being excreted. The bean droppings are collected and further processed to remove the parchment and then roasted to produce this extremely rare coffee. Most reviewers say that this is the best coffee they have ever
