Tired of hearty lattes or black classics? Then we invite you to the most expensive coffee in the world from the luwak litter. The price for 1 kg starts from 250 and reaches 1200 dollars.

Kopi luwak, aka Cape Alamed, is a coffee variety from Indonesia, the Philippines and India. What is its peculiarity? In poop.

Musangs or palm civets are animals that resemble cats in body and a rat with their muzzle. They eat the pulp of coffee cherries, and their droppings are then collected by farmers: they are cleaned, dried and roasted.

In the stomach of musang coffee cherries go through a process similar to fermentation, which makes the taste less bitter at the exit.

This seemingly simple production process is costly and costly. For example, musangs eat not only coffee beans, but also need meat, which means that they need to be additionally fed with poultry. But these are flowers.

Animals do not breed in captivity - their population cannot be artificially increased, therefore planters are content with wild capture. And civets produce that very special enzyme for processing grains for only 6 months a year, the rest of the time their poop is useless. Farmers even release the animals, since it is cheaper to catch them again than to feed them at idle for six months.

Coffee is the second traded product on the world market after oil.

Tourists can visit open plantations and even sample ready-made coffee. By the way, on the spot its cost is easier - $ 15 per 100 g, but when imported and packaged somewhere in a European restaurant, the same 100 g cost $ 100.

Business idea: we give a kilogram of coffee beans to a civet and at the exit we get 50 g of undigested, but ready to roast beans. Profit.

How did the variety come about?

It was 1980. Mark Mountanos and his partner Stefan Kahl have found a new product to be imported into Europe. They wrote an article in National Geographic, which shocked the intelligent community - their product is animal secretions. Can you imagine the reaction?

Coffee trees grow on the Indonesian island of Sumatra (but not only there). Until the 70s of the 20th century, the islanders were under oppression and were forced to put up with exorbitant taxes. Just to imagine: one grain of coffee was equated to gold, and add pests here and the production of coffee became an unprofitable enterprise.

The plantation workers knew about the civets and that the animals seemed to be eating on purpose. best fruits... Farmers not only saw droppings with undigested grains, but they also used them because the coffee tasted differently.

And when it came to coffee tycoons, in the kopi business, luwak made a revolution and now a new elite coffee has entered the market with an exorbitant price tag for true extreme lovers.

Connoisseurs are sure that the production gives the drink a caramel shade and chocolate smell, and the aftertaste ... mmm ....

What's the catch?

Kopi Luwak is one of the varieties, no worse and no better than others. Yes, there are taste differences, but they are not significant enough to put this coffee on the top shelf of the rating. Only its production is expensive, hence the small volume of production and the corresponding price.

"Kopi" in Indonesian means "coffee".

And here's something to think about: in natural conditions, civets choose ripe berries, on farms they eat everything. Surely the quality suffers from this. An artificial flavor characteristic of the variety can also be added to the coffee. This reduces the cost of production, but in fact we get a gross fake for the same cost.

That's all. We talked about the most expensive coffee in the world from the luwak manure, the price of which is somewhere beyond the clouds, and the taste, let's be honest, is not so magical. What do you think?

The relatively small distribution area of ​​coffee on our planet, the dependence of crops on weather conditions, and the vulnerability of coffee plantings do not contribute to the fall in coffee prices. Natural grains of decent quality have always been valued not cheaply. What is the most expensive coffee in the world?

Mine Luwak is not the most expensive coffee!

The most expensive coffee? Asking this question to any search engine will give you many links to articles about the trendy Kopi Luwak. The popularity of it was added by a good film with Robert de Niro, in which the variety is called the most expensive in the world. However, as often happens, the reputation is not entirely true.

The most expensive coffee in the world is Black Ivory from Thailand. Its cost is approximately 80 thousand rubles per 1 kg, which is twice the price of Kopi Luwak.

How the most expensive coffee is made

It is clear that there must be good reasons for such a high price of grains. What are the secrets of the production of the Black Ivory variety (translated as “Black Ivory”).

• In the north of Thailand, on the border with Laos, the Black Ivory Coffee coffee farm is located. It is owned by Canadian Blake Dinkin.
• Thai Arabica is grown here, Thai Arabica trees feel great in a warm and humid climate.
• On the coffee farm, besides the two-legged, there are also four-legged employees. These are elephants, and they are entrusted with the most important and responsible part of the work.
• After the ripe coffee berries are harvested, they are fed to the elephants. The fruits are partially fermented in the digestive tract of the animal and then excreted naturally.
• The berries are picked, washed, dried and processed. The resulting grains are called Blake Ivory.
• Black Ivory has a surprisingly mild flavor. During fermentation in the elephant stomach, the traditional coffee bitterness disappears completely. You can enjoy a rich and bright coffee bouquet, with notes of fruits, spices and floral aroma, with a light caramel sweetish note. This taste is considered a coffee ideal, which is simply unattainable in natural conditions.
• The high cost of Black Ivory is explained not only by the peculiarities of its processing, but also by very poor big amount grains entering the market. This variety is truly rare. To get 1 kilogram of fermented beans, an elephant has to feed more than 30 kg of coffee berries.
• The farm produces only 300 to 400 kg of coffee per year.
• In Russia, the real Black Ivory is hard to find. Officially, coffee is distributed in the Anantara hotels and in the nature reserve of the same name. All points of sale are located in Thailand. The price of 1 kg is 1100 US dollars. Sometimes several kilograms of this coffee miracle appear in Russian coffee boutiques, but it is easier to buy such coffee to order.

8% of the profits from the sales of Black Ivory go to a specially created fund for the protection of elephants.

Top 5 most expensive coffee in the world

The Black Tusk variety is a unique, rare and very expensive coffee that is quite difficult to find and buy.

For those who want to join the club of elite sorts, we have compiled a list of the most expensive sorts of coffee that can be bought in our country. We present to your attention the 5 most expensive varieties from less to more expensive.

Geisha variety (Geisha)

Price from 10 to 11 thousand for 1 kg of roasted grain.

The history of the variety is quite curious. Its origin is still unclear. Some researchers claim that the seedlings were taken from Ethiopia, from the village of Gesha, where the name comes from. However, nothing like this variety grows in modern Ethiopia.

An active passion for Geisha began in the twentieth century, when farmers in South America considered the variety resistant to rust, the traditional scourge of coffee trees. The geisha did not live up to expectations, to top it off, she turned out to be extremely capricious and did not want to get used to the flat climate in which they tried to root her. The selection was abandoned.

In 2003, the owner of the Hacienda La Esmeralda coffee farm from Panama, discovered several trees of this variety on his site and in the same year won a prestigious coffee competition with these beans. It is said that one of the experts took a sip of this coffee and exclaimed "God in cup", roughly translated: "Divine!"

After that, the victorious march of the Geisha began around the world. The coffee has a very expressive and clean bouquet, in which you can recognize notes of citrus, lychee flowers, lime and even berry overflows. The taste is soft, enveloping, with a long and delicate aftertaste.

The variety is grown not only in Panama. Several Geisha plantations are known. The most expensive variety is from the very Hacienda La Esmeralda. approximate price- 11 thousand rubles for 1 kg of coffee. It is marketed under the La Esmeralda trademark.

The analogue from Costa Rica is slightly cheaper. It is sold under the Geisha trademark and costs about 10 thousand rubles per 1 kg of grains.

Geisha is the winner of many prestigious competitions and is considered the most significant discovery in the coffee history of the 21st century.

Blue Mauntain cultivar (Jamaica)

It is sometimes called the abbreviation JBM.

Price - 27 thousand rubles for 1 kg of grains.

Coffee is grown in the heart of Java, on the slopes of the mountain range. The main peak is called Blue Mauntain - Blue Mountain. He gave the name to the variety.

The combination of a set of climatic factors - altitude, soil composition and sea winds - gives the coffee a special taste. JBM's bouquet is considered the most exquisite in the world. It is famous for its balance of three main flavors - acidity, bitterness and sweetness. In its aftertaste, long nutty notes are felt, and the aroma of ripe nectarines is clearly felt in the bouquet.

Another feature of the variety is its stable quality. Constant climate, no sharp changes temperature and pressure allows you to get grains with the planned flavor characteristics.

The Jamaican Blue Mauntain is grown in limited quantities, around 15 tonnes per year.

If you decide to buy Blue Mauntain coffee, then be careful. In the world, this variety is grown in several other regions. But the absence of unique natural conditions leads to a loss of flavoring bouquet.

In order to confirm the authenticity, the Jamaican government issues a certificate of conformity when purchasing Blue Mauntain coffee.

JBM is not supplied to the market in bags, like all other varieties, but in specially made barrels.

Blue Mauntain (Jamaica) is considered the most delicious in the world.

Jacques Bird variety from Brazil

It costs about 28 thousand rubles for 1 kg of fried grains.

One of the rarest and most exotic varieties native to the south-east of Brazil.

Coffee plantations at the Kamotsim Estate farm since about the 60s of the last century have become a real platform for recreating the natural landscape of the area. The coffee trees are grown together with other fruit and forest species and are cared for only organically.

Thanks to this approach, not only the quality of the fertile soil layer is restored, but also the fauna of the area. One of the unintended consequences was the active breeding of birds of the breed, which the locals call Jacques. They are somewhat similar to our guinea fowls, even in color and plumage.

During the ripening period of coffee berries, birds willingly feast on them, devastating whole trees. For a long time, birds were looked at as arrogant invaders and even pests.

The current owner of the farm decided to change the approach to the problem. Now birds have become not pests, but pickers of coffee berries. The pulp of the berries is absorbed by the birds, and the grains are excreted naturally. The owner of the plantation only has to collect the partially fermented grains, peeled from the pulp, rinse and dry them.

Jacques Bird coffee has an expressive nutty taste, with hints of rye bread, fruity exotic accents and a pleasant aroma of molasses. This is one of the rarest coffees, so the price is high. It is produced approximately 1.5-2 tons per year.

Jacques Byrd's coffee is partially fermented and de-pulped in the stomachs of a local bird.

Variety Bat, Costa Rica

Cost - 30 thousand rubles for 1 kg of fried beans.

On the high plateaus of the southeastern part of Costa Rica, there is a coffee farm called Cofea Deversa. The owner himself prefers to call his property a coffee garden.

Population adjacent to plantations bats from generation to generation flies in to feast on ripe coffee berries.

The animal cannot swallow a whole berry, so the mice only bite the skin and suck out the sweet pulp.

Only grains in the shell remain on the trees. They are given a few more days to dry naturally, then removed from the tree, cleaned, dried again and obtained unique variety coffee - Bat.

An amazing taste is achieved through a combination of two methods of drying - dry and wet, as well as precise selection of grains. The fact is that the bats have a very sensitive sensory and olfactory apparatus and choose only the best fruits for a meal.

The bouquet of this variety is distinguished by sweetish notes of nectarine and coconut milk, the aroma of spices and a long, multi-layered aftertaste, in which the accents of chocolate and nuts are replaced by exotic fruity notes.

No more than a few hundred kilograms of such coffee is harvested per year.

Coffee Bat undergoes a special type of drying, and the choice of beans is carried out by natural gourmets - bats.

Kopi Luwak variety (Indonesia)

Cost 25-35 thousand rubles per 1 kg.

Kopi Luwak is a partially fermented variety. The process takes place in the digestive tract of civets. The grain processed in this way acquires a very soft chocolate flavor with a hint of peanuts. The fermentation process takes place with the participation of lactic acid bacteria, which break down the proteins of the coffee bean, removing the bitterness we are used to.

Kopi Luwak is produced in several regions of the world. It is grown in India, the Philippines and even China. The most popular is the Indonesian version of Kopi Luwak, which is grown in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Kopi Luwak can be obtained in two ways. On plantations where civets are kept specially and fed with plucked coffee berries or in the wild, where the animals independently choose the fruits.

The difference in price depends on the region of cultivation and the method of obtaining. The most prized wild Kopi Luwak of Indonesian origin. Its cost is, on average, 35 thousand rubles per 1 kg of roasted grains. If you buy in small lots of 100 grams, then the price can rise to 4,700 rubles per lot.

The "farmer" Kopi Luwak from Indonesia will be cheaper. Its average price is 23-25 ​​thousand per 1 kg of roasted beans.

Slightly more affordable will be a variety from other regions obtained on farms. But even in this case, the price for 1 kg of grains does not fall below 20 thousand rubles.

Wild Indonesian Kopi Luwak remains one of the most expensive varieties in the world. Analogs that are grown in other regions can cost significantly less.

Kopi Luwak can still be called the most expensive coffee, but not in the world, but among the varieties available on the open market.

Table of the most expensive coffee varieties

Coffee has never been a cheap product. History remembers a time when coffee beans were worth their weight in gold. And this is not an exaggeration.

Europeans groping for " gold mine"Started from the middle of the 18th century to actively equip plantations with coffee trees around the world, where only the climate allowed them to do it: in Colombia and Mexico, India and Indonesia.

Coffee became cheaper, but it still brought colossal profits to those in whose hands were its production and distribution. You can read about how and where coffee is grown in the world.

Even today there are varieties available due to their high cost only to a few... This is no longer about coffee as such, but about the exclusivity of certain types of raw materials, unusual ways its receipt and processing and the associated significant expenses.

A list of all varieties of coffee with names and their characteristics can be found in the article.

You can find an overview of the most expensive tea in the world.

The world's most expensive dung coffee

Most of the most expensive sorts of coffee in the world people get by exploiting "our smaller brothers". And you shouldn't even wish for the best helpers.

The fact is that animals and birds are endowed by nature with an amazing extrasensory perception, which tells them which coffee fruits are the most ripe and delicious, and which ones are better to ignore.

Human helpers: lemur in Bali, monkeys in Indonesia, elephants in Thailand, bats in Costa Rica.

The most famous of these varieties is Indonesian coffee. called Kopi Luwak. The “partner” of man in this case is the musang animal, or the Malay palm marten, which lives in Southeast and South Asia.

Gourmets consider this type of coffee to be the drink of kings, although they know perfectly well what it is made of - excrement.

However, this is not entirely true. They are made, of course, from coffee beans, but only after they have been eaten by a cute animal, they go on a journey through its digestive system and again find themselves outside to undergo the necessary "sanitization" in skillful human hands.

Coffee beans are the favorite food of the Musangs. They will never eat "greens", they will choose the most ripe and delicious fruits. They will find them on a tree and under it - at least a kilogram in one day.

Scientists have found that out of all this amount of coffee beans, only 5 percent remain undigested, and they leave the animal's body safe and sound.

However, being inside the animal, they manage to pass processing gastric juice and an odorous substance called civet... And that, and another is only good for the grains.

They are thoroughly washed, dried, fried. Manufacturers guarantee 100% purity and safety of the finished product, although the details of the processing of raw materials are kept secret.

Those who have tried this coffee celebrate a whole a bouquet of exquisite flavors - vanilla, dark chocolate and caramel.

Analogs of this drink, which are produced in Ethiopia, according to tasters, are significantly inferior in quality and cannot be considered a worthy replacement for the Indonesian Kopi Luwak.

The famous coffee from Indonesia is not cheap. On average, 25-35 thousand rubles. costs one kilogram of roasted beans.

Chon from Vietnam

Chon coffee from Vietnam is produced in much the same way as Indonesian Kopi Luwak. The coffee beans are eaten by Asian palm martens.

It is believed that, having been in the body of this animal, the grains acquire healing properties that's why a cup of Chon coffee is not only tasty, but also healthy.

The drink surprises aromas of hot chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and caramel... It has a persistent, very pleasant aftertaste.

Interestingly, the Vietnamese way of making coffee is significantly different from the conventional one. It is never brewed in a Turk.

Condensed milk is poured into the bottom of the mug, then a device called "fin" (metal filter) is installed. Ground grains are poured into it (the grinding should be coarse), pressed with a press and boiling water is poured.

The drink turns out to be strong, full-bodied. There is also a summer recipe in which I use ice instead of condensed milk and a tall transparent glass instead of a coffee mug. Great drink in hot climates.

The price of Chon variety per kilogram is $ 150-250... There are offers on the Internet to purchase a 500-gram package for 2,700 rubles.

This brand belongs to Thailand... IN technological process preparation of elite coffee included… elephant feces.

If, upon learning about this, someone exclaims: "Yes, never in my life I will taste coffee that remembers what elephant droppings are," you will have to agree with this.

Yes never most people on the planet have not tried and will not try Black Ivory... And not because everyone is so squeamish.

The fact is that only 50 kilograms of these grains per year go on sale, and they are sold only in a few cities in Thailand. A drop in the sea. To get a kilogram of finished product, an elephant must eat 35 kg of the finest coffee beans.

Being in the stomach of the giant, the "surviving" grains completely lose their bitterness, but they are saturated with the aromas of everything that he ate with pleasure - bananas and other tropical fruits, sugar cane.

There is an elite Black Ivory - 75 thousand rubles. per kilogram roasted beans.

Terra nera

Terra Nera is the most expensive coffee brand in existence... The price per kilogram can exceed 20 thousand dollars.

Moreover, in this case, the buyer overpays not only for exotic "excrement", but also for elegant packaging.

Coffee of this sort (by the way, it is produced even less than Black Ivory, only 45 kg per year) is sold in just one London store in a silver paper bag that reliably retains the aroma of the beans.

The package is protected from extraneous penetration by a special valve and tied with a ribbon with a gold tag. If the buyer wants, his name will be engraved on the tag.

Full-fledged participants in the coffee production process are palm civets (the closest relatives of the Musangs) living in the southeast of Peru.

Classic Arabica, having been in the stomach of these animals, acquires hazelnut and cocoa aromas and has, according to experienced tasters, a truly great taste.

Other coffees from animal feces and more

And also briefly about some other expensive varieties. Coffee Bat(the name speaks for itself) are obtained in Costa Rica with the help of this animal.

The animal cannot swallow coffee beans whole, but bite with sharp teeth and suck the juice - please! It turns out that the grains begin to dry right on the tree. The work begun by the bats is completed by the hot tropical sun.

These grains are harvested, processed and prepared by people who make delicious coffee that is worth 30 thousand rubles. per kilogram.

Blue Mountain (translated - Blue Mountain) received in Jamaica the traditional way, without the participation of animals and birds. The quality of raw materials is influenced here by a combination of various natural factors: the growth of coffee trees at high altitudes, the wind blowing from the sea, the special composition of the soil.

Tasters note in this type of coffee a harmonious combination of three tastes - bitterness, sweetness and sourness. This variety also surprises with the aroma of fresh nectarines.

Blue Mountain is difficult to acquire - 85 percent of coffee is shipped to Japan, where the drink is very popular. The cost of a kilogram of grains is 27 thousand rubles.

The jacoux bird in Brazil is involved in the creation of a coffee variety called Jacques Bird. For a very long time, in the southeast of the country, the bird was considered a pest and exterminated.

This continued until one local farmer at the end of the last century realized to use bird droppings in the same way as in other countries the excrement of some animals is used.

The coffee obtained on the basis of such unusual raw materials surprises with its taste notes: pineapple and coconut milk. A kilogram of grains is estimated at 28 thousand rubles.

Which of the following coffee varieties tastes better and in to a greater extent justifies the high price that is being asked for it is difficult to say.

Few people manage to try all exotic species... In addition, there is always a great danger of acquiring a fake.

If a person has the opportunity to visit different parts light as a tourist or on business, coffee must be tasted there - it most closely matches the characteristics of the variety and is much cheaper.

It happened back in the distant colonial times in Indonesia. Then the Dutch, who occupied the territories of the now Indonesian islands, forbade local farmers to consume coffee from the "Dutch plantations". And Indonesians, by the way, love coffee. We lived with a Balinese family in Ubud, where the owner's wife prepared breakfast for us every morning. So, they always brewed fresh natural coffee for me in the morning (not Luwak, of course, but ordinary one :)), not because I asked, but because this is how it is accepted. That is, the people in those parts respect natural coffee very much, and it was so in the old days. When the Dutch banned locals from picking coffee on their territory, farmers had to look for individual coffee beans on the ground where they could find them. These were the feces of luvaks, local martens. Over time, people realized that this kind of coffee tastes much better than regular coffee.

Since then, Indonesia, and in particular the island of Bali, has been one of the main supplying regions of this type of coffee to this day. The favorable climate and the spread of palm martens have created excellent conditions for the appearance of Luwak coffee in these parts. And indeed, going around the island of Bali on my own motorcycle, here and there I noticed signs with the inscription "Kopi Luwak". There is a particularly large concentration of such farms in the northeast of the island, in the area of ​​the village of Kintamani, as well as along the road that leads to the Pura Besakih temple.

So we went to the Batur volcano and on the way noticed the inscription "Kopi Luwak". I had already heard a lot about this coffee, and therefore it was incredibly interesting for me to see everything myself. I stopped at the entrance to find out how much a visit costs. It turned out you didn't need to pay anything! The entire walk and excursion are free, only a cup of coffee for a tasting costs money - 50,000 rupees, i.e. about $ 5. Well, quite a reasonable price in my opinion. In Russia, in any coffee shop, a regular espresso will not be cheaper. So I parked my bike in the shade and went deep into the green thickets.

The entire territory of the farm is a cozy green corridor with a variety of plants.
Here you can see how different crops grow - from cocoa to vanillin. Everything is marked with tablets, so those who are especially interested in botany will definitely be interested in how this or that type of plant grows. Yes and common man far from botany, it is interesting to see a garden of pineapples, for example :)

Note that my three-year-old was the first to notice pineapples =) So, even without reading, you will quite recognize the familiar fruit. But to the majority, the tablets are still to help, tk. a lot looks like ordinary grass))
For me, nettle turned out to be more noticeable =)


Here it is slightly different, but the shape of the leaves and small needles on them give out the stinging plant familiar to us from childhood.

And, of course, coffee grows here. How can it be without him. Here are these pretty, almost bunches :)

For display to visitors, they grow here different varieties coffee. But only arabica is used for the production of Luwak coffee. The fastidious animal does not recognize other varieties.

Here is the very selective gourmet marten.

Honestly, I was conquered by this beast. Mordakha is incredibly cute, and I wanted to lovingly tug at his fur =))

Several furry animals sat in a cage. We put them here again only to show them to visitors. Of course, there can be no talk of any large-scale production. A couple of martens will not cope with the volumes for sale, no matter how much they eat or poop after.

I wondered if it was common for Musangs to sit in cages like this. To which the employee confidently replied that no, no, only free musangs produce coffee. They say they walk among the jungle, eating wild-growing coffee, and then people collect their feces. I doubt it very much, because it’s not enough human resources to collect these inconspicuous poop (sorry, but you can't throw out the words from the song) among the dense thickets. Moreover, I assumed that there would be some sort of coffee plantations, but it turned out that there were such forests around.


Where will the little animals look for Arabica?

Previously, coffee was really extracted in a “wild” way, but now, more often than not, unfortunate martens are put in cages and fattened on the spot. And if in nature these mammals choose only selected Arabica berries, then they have to eat something in their cells. Therefore, today this method of producing Luwak coffee, although it reduces its cost, but at the same time decreases the quality. Quite a predictable pattern in my opinion. It seems to me that it would be more logical to plant fields of coffee, enclose the entire territory with a fence and let these martens rush there. It seems like they live in freedom and eat the best coffee at their own discretion. Waste after them is again easier to collect, after all, the territory is limited. Why this was not done for me remained a mystery, but apparently there are reasons ...

We were allowed to feed the musang. Ripe berries The farm employee put the coffee on a stick so that the beast would not bite his hand. Both Mishutka and I fed the luwak a few fruits =)


See how he bends for a coffee berry =)

As soon as I saw, the eyes immediately lit up :)

Well, with what pleasure he grunted arabica! Even I feel like looking at this photo :)))


The berry really looked ripe and juicy, maybe that's why there was such a stir, or maybe the belly was just hungry :(

The animal fell a little, only a few berries, but he still wanted sweets =)


Notice the red berry skin below. Luwak spat out the outer shell of the coffee and ate only the grain!

And I have a question: "How do they gorge themselves on these grains?" After all, they are not processed in his stomach. Actually, they come out only in a slightly modified form.

Yes, like that. Grain came in - grain came out :) And this coffee gets its unique aroma due to enzymes that are in the gastrointestinal tract of the palm marten, and which, naturally, the coffee grains are impregnated, getting inside the Arabica eater. Later I found out that martens also do not refuse fruits, and moreover, they are not vegetarians even once, so and so!

Found feces are thoroughly washed, cleaned, and then fried.

I’m sure you wouldn’t distinguish it from ordinary coffee in appearance if this was poured into a jar. Doesn't look like poop at all;)

After the roasted grains are ground. The old way is in a mortar.


Mishutka, of course, here is trying more to hold the log than to grind :)))

But he perfectly manages to cope with the next stage - sifting.


Today, of course, this entire process is automated.

And now, in fact, the coveted jar of coffee at a cost of several hundred dollars.

And then the burning question arises: "How to make Luwak coffee?" Many people ask about this, because all the aroma and taste apparently does not appear with standard cooking methods. In Bali, I specially filmed this process, because undoubtedly he deserves attention. For making Luwak coffee, the Balinese use this device.

Water is poured into the flask, coffee is placed on top, a fire is ignited below.

Then this unit is closed with a glass cube. The water boils over the fire and steam goes through a special tube into a bottle with ground coffee.

Here this water accumulates and this is how Luwak coffee is brewed. A whole alchemy, no less!

It seems to me that no coffee machines can replace this technology, and the only, even remotely, but similar method is brewing according to the principle of Turkish coffee directly on the fire.

Hooray! Ready!! Well, shall we dare to take a sip? ;)

I have repeatedly come across reports from other travelers from similar farms, but none of them fed the luwak, no one saw how coffee was brewed in the traditional way, and no one was able to distinguish Luwak coffee from the usual one. Indeed, in taste it practically does not differ from the average Arabica. But the richness and aroma of this coffee exceeds the usual one at times! How did I understand this? We were lucky that on this farm they showed us so much and gave us a try, because we accidentally got here and how lucky !! Because it was here that we were not just poured a cup of coffee for 5 bucks, we were given a whole tasting table.

In addition to a cup of Luwak coffee, they brought us a cup of regular coffee for comparison. Everything is known by comparison, as you know. And this is how you can fully experience the difference between regular coffee and Luwak coffee. The taste of Luwak, as I have already written, is richer and more aromatic, but at the same time this coffee is not stronger, i.e. saturation is not manifested due to strength.

I, frankly, expected something different. The fact is that my mother brought Luwak coffee from Vietnam. With a photo of the animal on the pack, everything is as it should be :) Many people say that the Vietnamese Luwak with a kind of chocolate flavor, they say, is really exclusive. Indeed, the coffee brought by my mother has a chocolate shade. Just a caveat, she would never have paid even hundreds of dollars for this rather large package of coffee. Then it is not clear what kind of coffee it is, something like "Luwak" is written, but how can elite coffee cost a penny, for which it is sold in Vietnam? The answer probably lies in the now known fact that methods have been developed to artificially flavor coffee with civet. It is the artificial flavor that is felt in the Vietnamese "chocolate" Luwak !! Then the price of this coffee is explained there.
In Bali, however, absolutely no additional flavoring shades, except for coffee, are felt, only a special deep saturation. That is why it was surprising to me, because before I had tried this type of coffee, but the taste was completely different. So from my own experience, I tend to think that Vietnamese coffee- fake. Not all, probably, because Vietnam is also a supplier of Luwak variety, but cheap options with artificial flavors have flooded the local market, and tourists are sold it, nothing personal, just business) Remember that Luwak coffee is produced all over the world with only 700 kg per year ! It cannot be cheap a priori! Do not be fooled by attractive prices, this is an indicator of deception and poor quality.

I will continue about the tasting. In the photo above, you can see that there are many cups of drinks in front of Mishutka. That is, in addition to the usual coffee and Luwak coffee, we also tried coffee with ginseng, coffee with chocolate, coffee with coconut, coffee with vanilla, tea with ginger, tea with lemon, tea with lemongrass and hibiscus tea. Mmmmm, how delicious it was! Mishutka and I blew everything out =) Except for tea with ginger, because well, it's very tart and even spicy. All herbs are grown here, therefore they offer to try everything.

And the most different options coffee is already stored in cans.

After walking and tasting, we went to the exit. On the way, we were not persistently offered to look at coffee in their shop, but I immediately said that there was no money =) The employee did not offer any more, i.e. there was no purpose to sell something, I also really liked it on this farm. I definitely recommend this place for exploring the production of Kopi Luwak.

The farm is called Lakshmi. Along the straight road "Ubud - Kintamani" (if you go through Tegallalng), along the street Jl. Raya Tegal Suci, there is such a shield.


It is worth focusing on it. There is also a picture of the goddess Lakshmi, and almost at the very entrance to the farm sits Ganesha (Hindu god with the head of an elephant).

Up! At the request of the PM, I nevertheless decided to mark this farm on the map.

Everyone loves coffee: men and women, Europeans and Asians, young and old, the elite of society and the poor. However, it is easy to assume that the rich and very rich people prefer a drink of a completely different level than the middle class and the poor. And of course, this is grain coffee, because only it retains all the taste and aroma. the best varieties from all parts of the world. Let's give free rein to curiosity and find out which beans are most highly valued in the coffee market and why.

Why is cereal better?

• A high quality drink that retains all the shades of taste and aroma can only be obtained from freshly ground coffee beans. For this reason . When using a good coffee machine, the beans are poured into the machine, they are immediately ground and brewed in it.

• The quality of coffee beans is easier to assess visually. Size, color, smell. According to these characteristics, experts can easily identify the correspondence varietal characteristics... It is almost impossible to determine what was the raw material for making coffee powder.
• Coffee beans are stored better, preserving their exquisite aroma for longer. It is not necessary to use an airtight container for this. It is enough that the place is dry and free of foreign odors.

For these and some other reasons, premium varieties are sold only in the form of beans and are much more expensive than ground coffee.

Instant drink cannot be deluxe by default.

Elite varieties

The taste of coffee depends on many conditions: from the climate in which it is grown, from the characteristics of the soil and water. Therefore, as a rule, they are characterized by a specific geographic “reference”. In addition, the properties of luxury products are determined by the processing characteristics, sifting out substandard grains. The lots of such goods are limited, which also affects the price. What are the most expensive varieties, and what are their features?

Black Ivory

Coffee with this name (translated as Black Ivory) is considered the most expensive in the world. It is produced on one single farm located in Thailand.

Only 3-4 quintals of coffee beans go on sale per year.

The method of making this unique, very rare variety is very exotic. The fruit of the coffee tree (Thai Arabica variety) is fed to elephants. Then the undigested grains that have passed through the giant's digestive tract are thoroughly washed, dried and fried. The product yield is low. By feeding an elephant about 30 kilograms of coffee berries, you can get only one kilogram of elite beans. The cost of this kilogram ranges from one to one and a half thousand US dollars.

The mild taste of the Black Ivory drink is considered a reference. It completely lacks the characteristic bitterness, but at the same time reveals a surprisingly bright aroma with hints of spices and exotic fruits, notes of caramel and spring flowers.

Kopi luwak

The second most expensive variety, produced in a similar manner. Only coffee beans are fermented in the bowels digestive system small animals - civets (the local name is luwak, which gave the name to this special coffee).

The region of origin is the islands of Indonesia, the Philippines, the islands of Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra. But similar farms have already appeared in India and China. On these farms, the animals are kept in captivity, and the product produced there is somewhat lower in price.

The most highly regarded Kopi Luwak is obtained from wild civets. The cost is about 600 US dollars for 0.5 kilograms of washed, dried and roasted grain. The characteristic taste is described as chocolatey with a pronounced nutty note.

Annually, no more than 5 quintals of this type of coffee enter the market.

Hacienda La Esmeralda

This valuable variety is native to Panama and is grown in the Baru mountains. The spicy, rich taste is due to a combination of a number of factors: unusual volcanic soil, the ideal plantation height above sea level and a special type of coffee trees (they are called Esmeralda). Delicate taste is preserved due to low roasting. The fruits of the coffee trees on the farm are harvested by hand, choosing only the best, ripe, and free from defects.

Such a strict selection of ideally high-quality raw materials ensures the highest class of product, which rises in price every year at coffee auctions. Its taste is also special: it mixes notes of spices, fresh fruit and chocolate.

To avoid counterfeiting, you should buy luxury coffees only in specialized stores or from trusted, reliable suppliers.

Geisha

More recently, in 2003, this amazing variety became a real coffee discovery. Exquisite taste has conquered gourmets all over the world. It is very soft, delicate and sophisticated. Citrus and berry shades are guessed in it, enveloped in fresh floral notes.

The variety is grown in the mountainous regions of Panama and Costa Rica. Despite its youth, this coffee has repeatedly won various serious competitions.

Blue Mauntain (JMB)

Connoisseurs recognize the taste of this variety as ideally balanced: sweetness, bitterness, etc. are so harmoniously combined in it. The aroma contains notes of ripe juicy nectarines, pepper and chocolate, and in the aftertaste you can clearly hear the nut. Such perfection taste explain by special climatic conditions: a combination of specific soil, winds from the sea and the height of the plantations.

This type of Arabica is grown in Jamaica, on the mountain slopes. The variety owes its name to the highest peak of the mountain range - the Blue Mountain.

An interesting feature is the constant taste from harvest to harvest. Consistency is achieved due to stable climatic conditions.

It is not supplied to the market in bags, but in original barrels, which are produced specifically for this purpose. The amount of coffee produced annually is limited - only about 15 tons go on sale. The authenticity of the product is protected by a certificate of conformity.

Yauco Selecto AA-Coffee

Among the elite varieties, this one seems almost affordable. At coffee auctions, the cost of 500 grams is about $ 25. It is grown in areas with high rainfall for clay soil: in the Cordillera, Puerto Rico. The taste is described as a combination of nuts, spices and chocolate.

Jacques Bird

Brazil also did not stand aside in this coffee competition. Exotic variety Jacques Bird related to the famous Kopi Luwak and Black Ivory. The only intermediate link of processing here is the local bird, similar to the guinea fowl, - Jacques. The birds peck at the coffee berries but cannot digest the beans. Naturally released coffee from the digestive tract is washed, dried and roasted.

The special taste of this drink contains notes of rye bread, molasses, fruits and nuts. The plantation produces no more than 1.5-2 tons of specific coffee beans annually.

Kona coffee

The Hawaiian Islands also grow their own gourmet coffee. Arabica grows here on volcanic slopes in an extremely favorable tree climatic conditions... This variety, widely known all over the world, and very expensive, has been cultivated on the island since the 1820s.

The taste of the drink is guessed with wine notes, set off by the aromas of spices. Gourmets all over the world recognize the uniqueness and the highest quality of Hawaiian Arabica.

Bat

The last variety to which attention is paid in this article. It is grown high in the mountains, in the southwestern regions of Costa Rica. The producer is the one-of-a-kind Cofea Deversa farm. The uniqueness of the coffee from this plantation lies in the fact that bats are engaged in the selection of beans! Small animals are not able to swallow the whole coffee berry, but they love their delicious pulp very much. To feast on, they bite through the peel and suck the juice. Due to the special sensitivity of the olfactory and gustatory receptors, bats choose only the best fruits.

Such berries "chosen" by mice are allowed to dry on a tree, then they are collected, cleaned and dried. This combined drying in combination with the special selectivity of small sweet teeth allows you to get a completely unique taste of the drink with hints of coconut milk, spices and fruits.

The aftertaste will delight gourmets with nutty chocolate notes. This coffee is not the most expensive in the world, but its taste is truly unique.

Of course, not all precious premium coffees are described in the article, because there are quite a few of them. True connoisseurs of the drink are ready to pay significant sums for the grains of their beloved, and they can be understood. Unfortunately for most people, exquisite and rare species coffee remains an elusive luxury.