Posted on 12/09/2005 2:30:19 PM PST by StoneWallJack
The Palm Civet or marsupial luwak of Indonesia a tree climbing animal that ranges in weight from three to ten pounds uses it’s sense of smell and eyesight to seek out it’s favorite treat the ripest coffee cherries. The Palm Civet or Luwak passes the cherry through the digestive track where the beans exit the animal basically intact. The beans are then patiently harvested from the forest floor near coffee plantations carefully cleaned and roasted.
The beans are usually given a light to dark roast to avoid destruction of the complex flavors which have developed through the process. This “unique processing” is said to give the resulting coffee a rich, heavy flavor with some hints of caramel or chocolate. Some other words used to describe this cup of joe by those fortunate enough to try it have been earthy, musty and exotic with syrupy body and smooth flavor.
The University of Guelph did a study in which they examined the chemical and physical properties of the Kopi Luwak coffee bean and compared them to that of a “regular” coffee bean. Their results are quite interesting. They found the unroasted Kopi Luwak coffee beans had more red and yellow tones than a Columbian coffee bean. They also found the Kopi Luwak gourmet coffee bean to have less total protein, less bacterial count, some pitting on the surface of the coffee bean and different compounds. This may explain why the Kopi Luwak coffee is said to be less bitter and have a different aroma than other gourmet coffee.
Although this gourmet coffee’s exact date of discovery is not known. The strange origins of this rare gourmet coffee make it labor-intensive and time-consuming to produce. Gourmet coffee lovers are willing to pay a premium for this rare and exotic blend and consider it worth the effort and trouble involved. Here is your chance to be among the few who have tried Kopi Luwak coffee. We have been able to secure a small quantity of Kopi Luwak coffee at a substantial discount and once sold out we do not know when we will be able to procure more.
Thanks for sharing that with us.
I love Blue Mountain- tastes like coffee "used to" IMHO, but I'm no longer surprised by those who don't.
I gave my son-in-law BM and Kona one Christmas. Ground them up myself. I found out later he threw the pound of BM away! (I still love him though, but if he had thrown the Kona away too...)
LOL!!!
"I may drink tanzanian peaberry or huehuetanango from quatemala but I also drink Folger's when I have to. Caffiene is our friend."
Coffee is like sex. The only bad cup is the one you don't get.
Here, here...
I hear you brother! I point everyone to Sweet Maria's as well (see my post #58 to FReeper Oorang). I was roasting up some Costa Rica Tres Rios (La Magnolia) while I was posting!
No, I'm saying their coffee is awful. How many people do you see buying their coffee? What they're buying are the tarted up "coffee drinks" - those vaguely coffee-flavored sweetened milky concoctions. You could make those with the oil drained from my lawnmower and wouldn't be able to tell the difference because of all the masking flavors.
If it's awful, why are you frequenting Starbucks stores?
A couple times in the last 5 or 6 years isn't "frequenting", and I ordered plain black coffee (or espresso) because I like coffee, not froofroo whipped-creamy nonsense.
Their coffee was horrid - cheap beans, burned and priced high.
I'd love to have their margins in my business, but their coffee is bad.
Looks like he needs to go to post 35.
Ah, okers.
Thanks!
Post 35 had a link about home roasting..
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/homeroast
Dunno if that will help as I didn't check the link.
We knew what you meant.
Condolences.
Eaker
"How many people do you see buying their coffee?"
Plenty. Look at their annual report. Why be so concerned with what type of coffee drinks others buy? That doesn't influence what you buy, does it? I've purchased Starbucks beans since 1991 and haven't found better. Your comments would suggest you have issues more with who buys what at Starbucks rather than the quality of the coffee. If you think it's awful, nobody is forcing you to buy it. Stick with what you like and don't worry about what others like.
The Zach & Dani is pretty much the best bet for roasting indoors IMO. Almost everything else you need to use with a strong exhaust fan.
My foul weather winter roaster is an I-Roast under the kitchen exhaust fan, but it pales in size and capability of the stir-crazy popcorn popper and convection oven. The I-Roast II is now available. You can store multiple heat/time profiles to better handle different bean types. The I-Roast is OK, but they could have had a little more quality control.
If you're happy with the Zach & Dani roaster, you might just buy another one.
If you like to roast outside and do large quantities, the RK Drum, rotisserie motor and a gas grill is another good but pricey method.
Just took your advice, and son of a gun! Smoother cup of joe, indeed...thanks!
Really? Look harder.
I'll try just once more to clarify what I've been trying to explain to you: Starbucks sells a lot of drinks with huge margins and makes a lot of money doing it. Good for them. But their coffee, their regular black coffee/espresso, sucks. That's because they use cheap beans (margins, anyone?) and overroast them to mask the flavor, then encourage people to buy expensive variations with lots of sugar, milk and flavorings (again, margins) to further mask the poor quality of the basic coffee.
They make great money but would be gone in a week if it had to sell coffee. Just coffee.
Your comment suggests you have issues with Starbucks that have nothing to do with the quality of their beans. Why should you care what others do or buy, or for that matter, care what Starbucks sells or how much profit they make? Starbucks was successful selling only beans long before offering drink variations, which by the way, is apparently what their customers want. Don't buy Starbucks if you are so bothered by their success.
You are correct, 1/4 is too much. That should have read 1/8th teaspoon. Either fat fingers or not enough coffee. Yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking with it....
I'm done trying to get through to you. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a bad cup of black coffee is just a bad cup of black coffee.
Perhaps you should spend less time telling others what they should do, buy or think.
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