HAPPY WEEKEND

Gina Dizon
That aromatic dung coffee

SAGADA Mountain Province -- Dung could be expensive and the feces of the mutit (civet) prove it so. One kilogram of coffee parchment with the mutit dung locally called intakkin di mutit costs P700 a kilo.

The civet is a long tailed mammal which has a cat-like appearance measuring about 17 to 28 inches and weighs about 1 to 5 kg. The civet which is also called Toddy Cat has a long, stocky body covered with coarse, shaggy hair that is usually greyish in color.

Civet also refers to the musk produced by the animal. The musk is a highly valued stabilizing agent for perfume produced by the civet’s perineal glands and found in its secretions.

This musk must be the reason why the feces-contained coffee parchments is expensive due to the scented aroma different from other coffee parchments not mixed with the civet’s feces.

Opinion says that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter and distinct taste. The undigested coffee beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the flavor that developed through the process.

The civet, a nocturnal animal, gathers ripe coffee cherries from the branches of the coffee plant, sips off the sap from the coffee berries, then leaves the undigested coffee parchments in small heaps at the base of the coffee plants. While the civet makes scented coffee, the civet also helps the farmer from harvesting and pulping off the coffee cherries.

Joseph Bogenggeng, a farmer from Aguid, Sagada harvests at least nearly a kilogram of intakkin di mutit in a day, spread out in his 1,000 fully grown coffee plants.

“I tried roasting coffee which had been excreted by the mutit tand it has a fragrant smell different from the coffee not having the dung of the mutit, he said.

Bogenggeng washes the coffee beans and takes off the feces then dries the beans. He then roasts the beans followed by grinding these into dark brown powder.

He sells the in takkin di mutit without taking off the civet’s dung at P700 a kilo to buyers from Manila.

Intakkin di Mutit is not new. It is called kape alamid in other coffee producing
parts of the Philippines such as in Batangas and Mindanao. It is called Kape Laku in East Timor and Kopi Luwak, also known as caphe cut chon (fox-dung coffee) in Vietnam.

Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world. It is sold between $120 and $600 USD per pound mainly in Japan and the United States. Supply is limited with only 1,000 pounds (450 kg) at most make it into the world market each year. Wikipedia reports one small café in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, has Kopi Luwak coffee on the menu at A$50.00 (US$48.00) per cup, selling approximately four cups a week.