The world’s most expensive coffee
Kopi Luwak is often described as the most expensive coffee in the world and it’s also the most unusual, being made from beans eaten and then excreted by the weasel-like palm civet. Silvio Lombardi from The Grind at Adelaide Central Market, one of the few places you’ll find it in South Australia, describes its taste and what buyers can expect to pay for the genuine article.
What is Kopi Luwak or civet coffee and where does it come from?
Kopi is Indonesian for coffee. Luwak is the little animal that eats the green coffee beans. My current stock is from Indonesia, but there is stock coming out of Vietnam also. The Luwak is native to Indonesia.
What can shoppers expect to pay for it in Australia?
For the genuine article, $200-plus per 100g.
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Critics are divided over its taste, with one American food writer describing it as being like “petrified dinosaur droppings steeped in bathtub water”. How would you rate its taste compared with other coffee?
When we tasted the product we found it to be sweet and smooth. It’s not a strong coffee.
How is it best brewed?
French press (plunger); it’s a coarse grind.
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Is it difficult to source and import Kopi Luwak?
Yes. Australian Quarantine (AQIS) considers it a fertiliser, so it requires special documentation to be imported.
You also stock a number of other rare coffees. What are some of these?
Fair Trade Peru Femenino (Decafe Femenino): This Fair Trade organic coffee is grown, processed and traded exclusively by women. All profits go back to benefit women’s rights in Peru, thus changing the role of women in rural communities. To complete the process, it is roasted by women at The Grind.
Cuban Serrano: These shade-grown (under the canopy of the forest) Cuban coffees are very prized around the world for their unique flavour.
Nepalese Mount Everest: The highest-grown and the most northern ground coffee in the world from small plantations in Nepal. It has delicate floral tones with hints of jasmine.
A number of microlot coffees from Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Bali and Bolivia. Microlot are coffees sourced from a single farm or a single coop, so they have unique flavours and styles. In many cases they are only available in very limited amounts.
