Kopi Luwak Arabica

Blind Assessment: Impressive and unique aroma: sweet-toned, delicate yet heavy with notes of night flowers, orange, honey, and moist fallen leaves. In the cup soft acidity, silky mouthfeel, and continued lush notes of honey, fresh fallen leaves and night flowers. The sweetness carries into the finish though the flavor fades quickly. A hint of a note that I associate with raw nuts surfaced now and then. I do not care for this note and neither do most coffee cuppers; otherwise I would assign a rating of well over 90 to this quite unique sensory profile.

Notes: A version of the famous (or infamous) Kopi Luwak, the world's most expensive coffee. The beans are harvested from the feces of a species of civet cat resident in Sumatra that eats ripe coffee fruit. Luwak Coffee is an Internet retailer and wholesaler that specializes in kopi luwak and other rare Indonesian coffees. Presumably the term "bold" applied to the roast style of this coffee refers to roast profile rather than to degree or color, as this sample is very similar in color to the same company's medium roast. Visit www.luwakcoffee.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It: Experimentalists with spare cash. Something was going on in the flavor of this particular sample that was quite unique and may (or may not) reflect the peculiar and intimate nature of the processing method.