Agriculture.ph Blog

Alamid droppings

If you’ve seen the movie Bucket Lists of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman maybe you have seen Nicholson drink a coffee called Kopi Luwak. Kopi is an Indonesian word for Coffee while Luwak is a local name for Asian Palm Civet. Yes, these coffees are naturally made by furry animals and are not handpicked by farmers. These civet palm are found in the islands of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi in Indonesia. Incidentally, in the the Philippines, we have our own version of Kopi Luwak and we call it Alamid Coffee.

Alamid is what we call with our local palm civet (Paradoxorus Philippinensis) or Musang. From what I gathered, Alamid in the Philippines can be found in Cavite, Batangas (Mt. Malarayat area),these furry animals must like a mountaneous and cool climate because the areas I mentioned have high elevation like Kalinga Apayao. Alamids are carnivores but they like eating the berries of the Coffee tree. I did some research and found out that they eat different variety of coffee like the Liberica, Excelsa, Robusta and Arabica.

So I learned that in Kalinga Apayao, it is not in the variety but the secret is that how the Alamids pick the coffee beans. It is said they have a knack to pick the sweetest and ripest beans in the wild coffee forest area. But I think in the long run, some coffee farmers will be doing some experiments on this. Anyway, after picking the right berry to eat, they digest the berries and this is where the most important part why Kopi Luwak is very expensive. In there digestive tracts, the berries are fermented in the stomach and the enzymes break down the proteins beans and then they are excreted.

The process how Alamids make this unique coffee:

1. Alamids will find the best coffee beans in the wild coffee trees
2. Pick the sweetest and ripest beans
3. Beans will pass through the Digestive tracts
4. Fermentation process takes place in the stomach
5. Enzymes breaks down the coffee beans and then excreted (chemical process)
6. Droppings are picked. There are 2 kinds. Old droppings which look like chalky beans and fresh droppings which look like yellow beans.
7. These are dried or some semi-roast it for aesthetic purposes and also not to loose that quality of the coffee beans.
8. Packaged in bottles and are sold in retail shops and specialty markets around the world.

Some facts about the Alamid Coffee Industry:

1. The world production of Kopi Luwak is only 250 kg that increased to 450 kg or 1000 pounds (Possible but improbable)
2. World average price is $100 but could go up to P600 per pound depending on supply
3. Are sold organically because they are grown naturally in the wild
4. Asian Palm Civet are now being protected in the wild
5. Before when Kopi Luwak was not that famous, these animals were hunted for there meat.
6. Some smart entrepreneurs have found a artificial way to produce Kopi Luwak

7. These are exported in Europe, Japan and USA.

8. Recently Japan Airlines served the Alamid Coffee as originated in the Philippines

9. It has a strong, sweet , dark chocolatey taste

Bottled Alamid Coffee

In my conclusion, it is good that Kopi Luwak is getting famous and it is the most expensive coffee in the world but this will also preserve this animals and maybe bred for this purpose. This will also be good for local people have livelihood for a specialty market. I think people who will artifically be making Kopi Luwak will have a hard time. The natural process is very hard to replicate. From picking the ripest and sweetest bean alone is a hard thing to do. And I think this process is very crucial besides the fermentation process in the stomach of the animal. Iam not a coffee drinker but it will be interesting to try this rare coffee which makes it expensive. For me it is expensive because of the process how these animals make the beans very unique. But we will see the expansion of the growing areas because of the demand in the market. Expect people planting coffee trees in Alamid infested areas! Haha

Source: www.wikipedia.com, www.alamidcafe.com, www.daylife.com

Where to buy: www.arengga.com