Saturday, November 13, 2010

Mugged: Kopi Luwak [Cat's Ass Coffee]

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What does "Mugged" mean?


Subject:
Cat's Ass Coffee
Coffee Mugged:
Kopi Luwak

Rating: 2+
[see key]





K
opi Luwak, the only coffee lucky enough to enjoy a trip through a civet, is a coffee that I have long sought to try. Sure it sounds gross to drink a coffee that has been defecated out of the jungle equivalent of a raccoon, but with a price tag in the hundreds for a single pound, who wouldn't be curious?

But my long abstinence came to an end when Cat's Ass Coffee offered to send me out a sampling. Completely flattered, as this coffee is not cheap, I readily accepted with hopes of trying something different.

I received the coffee one sunny day and opening up the coffee, I noticed that the beans were big, plump and extremely black (the darkness from being really over-roasted). I brewed the coffee in the usual three infusions of drip, french press and siphon.

The french press was my first endeavor. The brew produced a really dark coffee with overpowering notes of bitterness and campfire followed with notes of butter, cocoa, a little wheaty ale and a syrupy texture.

The drip delivered a similar result, with primary flavors of bitterness and a little curry along with some flecks of rum, apple, wheat, a little nut and a heavy body.

The siphon proved a little better, as I purposely brewed it a little weaker to compensate for the uber dark roast that emerged in the first two. The result was still a dark coffee with a potent body but much more cocoa, nuttiness, wheat as well as bits of rum and apple.

All three brews displayed little initial reaction with the water, displaying a flat brew common to stale beans (my deduction).

Alas, my first interaction with Kopi Luwak proved not as great as I had hoped. The coffee proved too darkly roasted to enjoy the other flavors and as mentioned above, it seemed pretty old (quality control?). Overall, there was little in this coffee (sadly) that would make me buy it for the price of normal coffee, never mind the price tag of Kopi Luwak.

note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

18 comments:

James said...

I couldn't believe there was actually a company called 'Cat's Ass Coffee' so I had to google it. According to their website if it isn't the smoothest cup of coffee you have ever drank you can return it for a 110% refund. Might be a good investment then: spend $80 and get $88 back!

Get post btw.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

This is a question for the webmaster/admin here at purecoffee.blogspot.com.

May I use some of the information from this post above if I give a link back to your website?

Thanks,
James

Bill said...

James,

You can use the content if you cite the sources (via link) appropriately and in context. If you can, shoot me an email at bill.purecoffee@gmail.com so I can take a gander at your work.

Bill

Kopi Luwak said...

Hi Bill, I'm sorry to hear that your first attempt in brewing kopi luwak coffee didn't turn out to be as great as you hoped. I just want to say that Forbes wouldn't make kopi luwak one of it's coffees on their Most Expensive Coffees List without a reason. Kopi luwak is processed from common palm civet cats' digested cherries which is supposedly sweeter as a result for having passed through the animal. It's uniqueness makes it a good find. I hope that the next time you brew it, it'll come out better. :-)

vincent said...

Hello,


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We would like to add it to the Petitchef.com.

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enjoy your recipes.

Petitchef is a french based Cooking recipes Portal. Several hundred Blogs are already members
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To add your site to the Petitchef family you can use http://en.petitchef.com/?obj=front&action=site_ajout_form or just go to Petitchef.com and click on "Add your site"

Best regards,

Vincent
petitchef.com

Lima said...

Hello Bill,

congratulations on your blog is very interesting!!

I noticed that you have many pictures of labels and packaging of coffee as you can see on my blog, I collect these pictures, if you could send the interest you have, I will post and say that are yours, and put the link your blog the same for people here in Brazil also access.

With regard to their contribution, parabens

Lima Deleon martins
Agronomist.

Anonymous said...

I recently had the same experience with this over-hyped coffee. I tried it at a really nice Thai restaurant in Hamilton, Bermuda. The coffee was well prepared (french press at the table), but the product was complete rubbish: roasted too darkly, and all I got was a woody, earhy taste. Ewwwww.

Robert

Anonymous said...

Great blog !!!

Anonymous said...

thanks a lot!

SiP Bistro said...

I am a Coffee Shop Owner, and I just started writing a Coffee Blog. One of my posts was my anticipation of trying Civit Cat Coffee. I have enjoyed reading your Blog. Although, I was disappointed to hear that you had a negative experience with Kopi Luwak.
I too, had finally gotten up the nerve to try it. I had purchased a 1.8 oz bag for 26.99 including shipping from Kora Coffee. It clams to be pure Kopi Luwak, Arabica coffee. North Sumatra Mandheling grown in the upper hills at 900 meter elevation, around Lake Toba. Med. Roast. It also indicates that they are from Wild Palm Civet Cats, not farmed. I plan to French it on Christmas Morning, and post my notes. Hopefully I do not have the same experience. If you are ever in NC, stop by my shop and say hi.
www.caferoche.com
caferoche.blogspot.com
Sarah Hummell

Anonymous said...

we are a supplier Luwak coffee from Indonesia, we can supply Original Luwak coffee from Indonesia Java land, guaranteed quality and original taste of civet coffee . we are able to supply 200 kg/month
price $150/kg
ibanez_303@yahoo.com
best regards
Bayu Aji

Kopi Luwak said...

The mammals called Asian palm civets are responsible for the production of Kopi Luwak. 

Kopi Luwak Suryana said...

nice post for coffee luwak

Knowledge Explore said...

I have a new one; pure bengkulu coffee from Bengkulu,Sumatera Indonesia would you like to try it?

we present you
www.bengkulucoffee.com

cheers..
siosandra@bengkulucoffee.com
sio.agung@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Little pigeons can carry great messages.

Kopi Luwak said...

Funny to know the name of such a company. I wonder why it ended with such a disgusting name.

Thiet ke catalogue said...

I am interested in the taste of kopi luwak

Unknown said...

Hi Bill,

Most of the Kopi Luwak found online (and otherwise) is either from caged animals being force-fed a coffee exclusive diet, or is altogether fake. Check out http://gayokopi.com/. Beans are certified & guaranteed to be sourced from only free-roaming wild civets. It's also been roasted by the 2016 World Champion roaster, so I'm sure you'll have a better experience. Reference your blog, and we'll send you a free sample for comparison!