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lthough civet coffee possesses huge potential to enrich and diversify Indonesia’s premium coffee products, the world’s most expensive coffee is still struggling in keeping its quality and authenticity.

Civet coffee, locally called kopi luwak, is coffee made from the undigested coffee berries that have been eaten by a civet cat and passed through its digestive system before coming out in its droppings. The berries are then cleaned and processed to become a premium coffee. Kopi luwak dates back from the 18th century, when the Dutch brought coffee seeds from Yemen to be cultivated in Indonesia. The Dutch forbade the local coffee farmers from consuming the high-class beverage. Nonetheless, the farmers found their way to enjoy it, as they accidentally discovered that they could process the undigested coffee beans dropped by the civet cats into an even tastier beverage. Since then this coffee has been known as kopi luwak (luwak is the Indonesian word for the civet cat).

Wirawan Tjahjadi, owner of Bhineka Jaya company that roasts and markets the longstanding local coffee brand Kopi Bali, started venturing into marketing civet coffee five years ago.

“We’ve seen a very good surge in sales every year. Only two years ago, our civet coffee sales were only 500 kilograms a year, but last year it had already doubled. There’s a growing curiosity among foreigners to taste this kind of coffee,” Wirawan said on Thursday, stating that nationals from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, China, Russia and Japan had developed an appreciation for sipping his civet coffee. Prices range between Rp 2 million (US$207) per kg and Rp 15 million per kg, depending on quality.

He cited that around 60 percent of the estimated of 40-50 tons of kopi luwak annually produced around the archipelago come from caged luwak, instead of wild luwak.

“The condition of the luwak affects the taste and quality of the coffee. The caged luwak are often left starving and forced to digest both the unripe green berries and the finest ripe red ones,” said Wirawan.

Luwak, the Asian palm civet whose Latin name is paradoxurus hermaphroditus, is an omnivore that eats insects, chickens, eggs, fruit and, occasionally, coffee berries.

“Naturally, the best kopi luwak beans only come from the luwak that live in the wild,” Rai Bangsawan, owner of Bali Exotic Beans, said. He explained that kopi luwak was judged not only on the way the luwak lived, but also based on whether the beans were the higher-grade Arabica or the filler type, Robusta.

Rai, who sells his kopi luwak at Rp 3 million per kg for Robusta beans and Rp 3.5 million per kg for Arabica, acknowledged that in the market, prices of kopi luwak could differ greatly from one coffee shop to another. Prices could be as high as Rp 250,000 a cup, preventing many locals from being able to afford a sip of the coffee.