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.