A type of coffee whose production requires the gastrointestinal skills of the common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) also known as the lewak. It is indigenous to rainforests from northern India to the Phillipines.
The luwak is frequently seen climbing coffee trees where it eats the coffee cherries. The cat is unable to digest them, so the beans pass through the cat's
digestive system unscathed and into its droppings. Coffee plantations on three islands in Indonesia collect the beans from the feces.
Experts say the luwak likes to eat the ripest and reddest
coffee beans, which are the best ones for brewing. The cat eats the outer covering of the beans in the same way that de-pulping machines process the beans.
Billed as the most expensive coffee in the world, the price is approxinately $600 per pound for "Kopi Luwak"
coffee beans, billed as one of the rarest beverages in the world.
Only 500 lbs (227 kg) of the beans are produced every year.
