Kopi Luwak: The Truth About Civet Coffee

Kopi luwak has a story that sells itself: coffee cherries eaten by a small wild mammal, the beans collected from its droppings, cleaned, roasted and sold for a fortune. In Indonesia, kopi means coffee and luwak is the local name for the palm civet. A cup of kopi luwak has sold for as much as $80 in the United States. But behind the marketing, investigations and a peer-reviewed welfare study describe wild civets kept in small cages and fed mostly coffee cherries, and buyers have no reliable way to know what they are getting.

Here is how civet coffee is made, what the evidence says about welfare and taste, and how to choose a genuinely special Indonesian coffee instead.

Key takeaways

• Kopi luwak is made from coffee cherries eaten and excreted by civets, mostly in Indonesia.
• A 2016 study of 16 civet coffee plantations on Bali found that every one failed basic animal welfare requirements.
• There is no reliable way for consumers to tell wild-sourced from caged-civet coffee.
• Major sustainability standards prohibit caged wildlife, and Rainforest Alliance considers kopi luwak too risky to certify.

In this article

1. How kopi luwak is made
2. The welfare problem
3. Wild, farmed or fake? The labeling problem
4. Is kopi luwak worth it? Taste and price
5. Better ways to drink Indonesian coffee
6. FAQ

How kopi luwak is made

Civets are small, mostly nocturnal mammals found across South and Southeast Asia. In the wild, they eat fruit, insects and small animals, and they will raid coffee farms for ripe cherries. The cherry’s fruit is digested, but the hard seeds, the coffee beans, pass through.

1. Eating. A civet eats ripe coffee cherries.
2. Digestion. The fruit pulp is digested; the beans spend time in the digestive tract, where enzymes and fermentation act on them.
3. Collection. Farmers collect the droppings containing beans.
4. Cleaning and drying. Beans are washed thoroughly, dried and hulled like other coffee.
5. Roasting. Roasting at high temperature follows, as for any coffee.

The idea that wild civets pick only the ripest, best cherries is central to the legend. Experts point out that this advantage disappears when civets are caged and fed whatever cherries they are given.

The welfare problem

Demand for kopi luwak, and for tourist visits to civet coffee farms, led to wild civets being captured and kept in cages. In 2016, researchers from the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and the charity World Animal Protection published a study in the journal Animal Welfare assessing nearly 50 caged civets at 16 plantations on Bali. Their findings, as reported by National Geographic:

• Every plantation failed to meet basic animal welfare requirements.
• Cages were very small and fouled with urine and droppings.
• Wire floors caused sores, with nowhere else to stand.
• Some civets were thin from a diet of mostly coffee cherries; others were obese from lack of movement.
• Many lacked clean water, and daytime tourist noise disturbed these nocturnal animals.

The researchers also noted that tourism was a driver: visitors wanted to see civets, so plantations kept more of them on display.

Wild, farmed or fake? The labeling problem

Even if you only want wild-collected kopi luwak, buying it reliably is close to impossible.

Tony Wild, the coffee trader often credited with introducing kopi luwak to Western buyers, later described the trade as industrialized, abusive and faked.

Is kopi luwak worth it? Taste and price

Price is the main selling point, not flavor. The quality argument rests on wild civets choosing the ripest cherries; experts quoted by National Geographic say caged civets fed ordinary cherries produce an inferior product. Laboratory work has suggested that digestion changes bean proteins, which might soften bitterness, but a smooth, low-acid cup is easy to get from a well-roasted Indonesian or Brazilian coffee for a fraction of the price. In other words, much of what you pay for is the story.

Compare that with how specialty coffee is usually judged: blind cupping by trained tasters, with scores tied to a named farm, region and process. Kopi luwak rarely goes through that kind of transparent, blind evaluation, so its reputation rests on scarcity and novelty rather than on documented scores.

If you want to try something rare, consider coffees with real, documented quality, such as auction lots or famous origins. Our guides to Jamaica Blue Mountain and Kona coffee cover two of them.

Better ways to drink Indonesian coffee

Indonesia produces outstanding coffee without any animals involved. Our Sumatra from the Aceh highlands is wet-hulled, earthy and syrupy, with dark chocolate and dried fruit. Bali Blue from the volcanic Kintamani highlands brings dark chocolate, molasses and brown sugar. For something bold, our Robusta from West Java offers cacao, Brazil nut and malt with extra caffeine. Brew any of them in the traditional way with our kopi tubruk guide.

If you still want to try civet coffee

• Avoid plantation tours that display caged civets.
• Be skeptical of “wild” claims without independent, verifiable evidence.
• Remember that buying even one bag supports the market that drives captures.

Kopi luwak FAQ

Is kopi luwak cruel?

Much of it is linked to caged wild civets kept in poor conditions, according to a 2016 welfare study and earlier investigations. Wild collection exists, but it cannot be reliably verified.

Is kopi luwak safe to drink?

Beans are washed, dried and roasted at high heat like any coffee. The concerns are ethical and about authenticity rather than safety.

Why is kopi luwak so expensive?

Scarcity of genuinely wild beans, the novelty story and tourism drive the price, not cup quality.

Where does kopi luwak come from?

It is most associated with Indonesia, including Sumatra, Java and Bali, though civet coffee is also produced in other Southeast Asian countries.

Sources

1. The Disturbing Secret Behind the World’s Most Expensive Coffee, National Geographic, 2016.
2. Carder G et al. The animal welfare implications of civet coffee tourism in Bali, Animal Welfare, 2016.

Facts checked in October 2026.

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