Feline Great:
The True Poop Scoop on Civet Coffee
Chip Childers goes on the trail of the civet cat coffee and discovers it's not as crap as it sounds
THE PHENOMENON
When the assignment came to investigate civet cat coffee, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke come late. Could there really be a brew made from the excreta of the civet cat, a furry creature who’s last claim to fame was the blame for the 2003 SARS epidemic? Well, this was no joke. Indeed, the production of coffee from the palm civet, a member of the mongoose family and known locally as the motit, or alamid, is taken very seriously indeed in the Philippines. Found in forested areas all over Asia, these cat-sized mammals roam an area of 1.5ha, gorging themselves on the cherries of the coffee plant, choosing only the best beans ready for harvesting. After swallowing the coffee cherry whole, the civet’s digestive system takes care of the outer red skin and the sweet, fruity flesh, leaving the coffee bean covered with a final layer protecting it from contamination. As the beans pass through the digestive system they ferment, giving the coffee a sweet, chocolatey aroma. As unpleasant as the process may sound, the outcome is some of the most expensive and highly sought after coffee in the world, with prices ranging from PHP8,000 (US$160) per kilo in the Philippines to PHP29,000 (US$600) per kilo in Tokyo.
Mount Matutum,
where the civet cat roamsTHE JOURNEY
We began our research with hosts Basil Reyes and his wife Vie, who own Bote Central, a company which offers several environmentally sound products to the public. Picking us up at General Santos City Airport was Fred, who oversees the operation in southern Mindanao. Our initial attempts to visit the coffee plantations in Batangas, several hours from Manila, were thwarted by bad weather and scheduling so Reyes invited us to Cotabato province at the southern tip of Mindanao to check out a new co-operative he was involved with. This is a beautiful part of the country so I leapt at the chance to bounce along snaking roads through the vast Dole pineapple fields, at the side of the dormant Mount Matutum volcano.
A Blaa’n child curious about visitorsMEETING THE MAKERS
The steep road ended at a small village on the edge of a surprisingly verdant cone of forest that topped the mountain. This was the ancestral domain of the Blaa’n tribe, which has co-existed with Muslim and migrant Christians in the area for centuries. I have visited many indigenous cultures under threat, but I was pleasantly surprised by the pride and empowerment of these people who couldn’t wait to take us into the primary forest and show us how they live.
After a 20-minute hike, we made it to the tree line standing the height of 15-storey buildings. Nestled in the shade, the Blaa’n chieftain pointed out to us arabica and robusta coffee plants. Unlike coffee plantations, whose unsheltered trees are scorched and ripen prematurely, shade-grown coffee has a fuller, more complex flavor. The Blaa’ns are careful to stay within strict quotas of both handharvested and civet cat coffee, so as to not ruin the balance of this delicate ecosystem, or to “kill the cat that lays the golden bean”, as Basil joked. Their ease in this primordial wilderness is impressive, and they dart up the mountain looking for the droppings of the civet, which head back to their nests in the morning after foraging the night away.
It’s not long before we find some droppings on the forest floor. I had expected the sorting and cleaning process to be more unpleasant, but that was not the case. The beans look as if someone had chewed them unroasted for a short while and then spat them out. Nothing like sifting through kitty litter at all. The Blaa’n put the droppings in a leaf and we continued searching for an hour before heading back to the village to learn about the cleaning and sorting process.
QUALITY CONTROL
Civet cat coffee raises a number of concerns about quality, hygiene and authenticity. The market niche may be fraught with get-richquick scam artists, but in the hands of the right company, all of these concerns are subject to strict quality control standards. In the case of Bote Central’s operations, a seven-step system of strict bookkeeping, expert hand-sorting and accountability filters out only quality product. Of utmost importance to the coffee industry is a healthy ecosystem. Mount Matutum’s forest is now being monitored and protected by the Blaa’n.
Illegal loggers, animal poachers and other undesirables are dealt with harshly by an area-wide co-operative of non-governmental organizations, provincial authorities and police.
After our forest bean-gathering, I sit in the shade while Basil and Fred weigh the coffee and pay the farmers who have gathered it. Out of one kilogram of coffee gathered, less than half makes the grade. Strict quotas are kept to, per coffee type and per farmer, and handsome prices are paid for both human and civet-gathered coffee. A good percentage of the earnings go back to the villagers: the glowing thank yous directed at Reyes are testament to this. Their tales of getting ripped-off over the years by disreputable middlemen, hauling low profit, heavy vegetables down to distant markets and struggling through periods of poverty are pitiful: the establishment of the coffee industry will hopefully consign those dark days to history. Now the kids are healthier and go to school and the environment is protected. By the time we leave the village, an impressive amount of beans has been bought, which yielded an even more impressive income. Tribal elders were already discussing which village projects the earnings would be used to fund.
BIG BUSINESS
Civet cat coffee is a niche product in an ambitious nationwide plan to start a coffee renaissance in the Philippines. The country was formerly one of the world’s biggest coffee growers but the industry has now fallen into decay and neglect. Nowadays, more than 90 per cent of the coffee Filipinos drink is the low-grade instant variety as well-known multinational coffee shops import their produce from around the world, oblivious to the country’s domestic potential. Bote Central and the Reyes want this to change. Power to the people? Like you’ve never seen… Basil and Vie have set up a nationwide network with the aim to “give Filipinos the best cup of coffee” and “to make the coffee farmers rich”. They have set up the 18 Days CofiShop in the Insular Life Building in Alabang. A distribution network gets the country’s best coffee directly to the drinker within 18 days of roasting – the optimal point before flavor and aroma start to deteriorate.
Think good quality brewed coffee is a guilty pleasure of the rich? Think again. The coffee shop offers a cup for about PHP15 (US$0.30) and has a plethora of incentive plans for sellers and distributors. These include easy-brew bags, coffee-making equipment and agreements that have got Basil’s coffee into palengkes (markets) all over the country – and into the mugs of those who could not afford the prices of the multinational chains.
TASTE TEST
It’s hard to raise the eyebrows of the clientele in Handlebar, a hang-out reminiscent of the cantina scene in Star Wars, but I was getting some double-takes walking through the bar with Basil’s coffee siphon, which resembles a Fisher Price “My First Mad Scientist” play set. I had denied myself the final taste test until I could be sure it could be done properly, with mad professor Basil in charge.
Drink fine wine from a dirty highball glass just after brushing your teeth and it’s not going to taste so fine – and the same can be said about fine coffee. To put it to the test, I made a side-by-side comparison with humanharvested arabica from Benguet. I finally raised the mug to my lips and with a few whiffs and sips reached the end of my journey.
I have to say, if you can’t taste the difference with civet cat coffee, you are either brewing it wrong or you should stick to Nescafé. I had heard the term “clean cup” when referring to civet cat coffee and now I understand it. The body, like a good wine or whisky, was complex and full of sweet, strong elements not found in normal coffee. The aftertaste was almost free from bitterness and lingered in my mouth. If I could afford to drink this coffee all the time I would never reach for my normal cream and sugar again. My journey had ended and I was a believer.
Do you know what I think is the funniest part of “the joke”? It’s not that the coffee comes from a civet cat’s backside, but that there are many layers to this onion (or this bean). Ironically enough, it is the civet’s Latin genus that raises a smile: Paradoxurus Philippinensis. A Philippine paradox indeed, as one beast’s waste is the key to another beast’s golden future. This waste product directly helps and empowers a good number of Philippine farmers and tribal communities with the potential for more in the future. That’s something to raise your mug to.
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