Civet Coffee: The Best of Animal Instinct

It is well-known globally that Civet Coffee is among the best tasting coffee in the world. In the Philippines, it is locally known as Alamid Coffee, and in Indonesia it is called Kopi Luwak.  

The Civet Coffee is made from partially digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by Asian palm civet. The civet while combing the forest would use their discriminating sense of smell in choosing the best quality coffee cherries to eat. As such, the coffee beans from those cherries which go to the poo of the civet are also of best quality. Hence, from those beans, the best tasting coffee can be produced. 

In Cebu City, there is this interesting coffee shop which serves civet coffee. The beans are sourced locally in Northern Mindanao. I speculate that because of this extra special offering, they were accorded the honor of being the "Best of Cebu" by SunStar, a newspaper of local circulation.

Signage at "The Civet Coffee" shop and their 
accolade as "Best of Cebu."

To obtain the best aroma and taste for the coffee, the cafe employs a specific extraction method which is pouring a hot water over the ground coffee beans. 

Preparing the civet coffee.

It was only there that I learned the proper way of drinking a civet coffee. It is to drink or sip first the coffee then immediately drink a cold water. The barista told me that in doing so, the coffee's flavor becomes more discernible to the palate.

Drinking the civet coffee is followed by an intake of cold water 
to enhance the taste of the coffee.

The civet coffee beans are also available for sale in this cafe. A package such as the one below is very expensive. 

A pack of civet coffee which costs a fortune.

To pair with the civet coffee, I ordered a cake which had a unique appearance. It was a cake with a transparent green gelatine on top where you can see a lotus flower figure inside it. This was a different kind of cake from among their offerings. 

Lotus Flower Gelatine Cake

There are many coffee shops which abound in Cebu City, but "The Civet Coffee" stands out. It is unique for its focus on brewing the highly reputed kind of coffee in the world.