Coffee and Your Health

Luwak coffee tastes good and makes you go in the morning, but what will coffee do for your health?

It's very easy to look into the eating habits. After the same breakfast, lunch, dinner or day after day offers comfort and convenience: No need to think about what to eat or where to find it. There are no surprises when you pour yourself a bowl of cereal for breakfast the same old day after day. People get addicted to foods ranging from the usual - burgers and fries, chips and soda - to the unusual - sliced ​​pepperoni with mayo, popcorn, and chocolate, processed cheese and even sprayed from ...


"There's a lot better news than bad news, in the case of coffee and health," said Frank Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

But (you knew there would be "but," right?) Civet Coffee has not been proven to prevent the condition.

The researchers did not ask people to drink coffee or miss for the sake of science. Instead, they ask them about their coffee habits. Those studies can not show cause and effect. It is possible that coffee drinkers have other benefits, such as better diet, exercise more, or protective genes. So there is no strong evidence. But there are signs of potential health privilege - and some warn.

If you like average Americans, which fell 416 8-ounce cup of coffee in 2009 (with an estimated World Resources Institute), you may want to know what all the java that do for you or for you.

Here is a look-by-state condition in this study.

Type 2 Diabetes

Hu took the data on coffee and [type 2] diabetes "pretty solid," based on more than 15 studies published.

"Most of those studies have shown the benefits of coffee on the prevention of diabetes, and now there is also evidence that decaffeinated coffee may have the same benefits as regular coffee." Hu WebMD.

In 2005, Hu's team reviewed nine studies on coffee and type 2 diabetes. More than 193,000 people, those who said they drank more than six or seven cups a day 35% less likely to have type 2 diabetes than those who drank less than two cups daily. There are more small perk - 28% lower risk - for those who drank 4-6 cups a day. The findings held regardless of gender, weight, or geographic location (USA or Europe).

Good To The Last Dropping of Kopi Luwak

Whenever you think coffee connoisseurs have come up with the strangest idea, just wait for this one. It will leave you holding your breath! What kind of coffee could possibly sell for prices ranging from $100 to $300 per pound? I present to you Kopi Luwak. An extremely rare coffee due to the fact that the beans are first processed through the intestinal track of a palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). Once thought of as only an urban legend, I now present you with the honest truth. This raccoon like animal has a sickly-sweet odor reminiscent of a striped skunk and loves the cherry like fruit that covers the coffee bean. Yes, ingested and deposited shortly thereafter, the beans are ripe for the picking. Once thought as a pest to the crop, these critters are now welcomed friends. Coffee pickers comb the civet's droppings for the berries and remove the husk. These yummy, choice beans are thoroughly washed, in other words, decrappinated, then roasted and ready for the brew. Oh boy, an aromatic brew it would be.
As for the taste, some laud Kopi Luwak coffee for its incredible aroma due to the civet only eating the ripest berries. They can’t pass it up; describing it by saying, The aroma is rich and strong, and the coffee is incredibly full bodied, almost syrupy. It's thick with a hint of chocolate, and lingers on the tongue with a long, clean aftertaste. Although, others are of the opinion that it is gamey and tastes like crap. They used to believe that the civet’s digestion did not get through the husk; however, now they know that is not the case. A study by a Canadian University, U of Guelph, Ontario – and I am glad our tax dollars did not pay for this – reported that the civet's stomach acids and enzymes digest the beans' cherry-like covering and ferment the beans themselves, before they're excreted. The Kopi Luwak coffee beans were found to be lower in total protein, meaning that proteins were partially broken down and leached out during their travel. Could this make a real difference in taste? Yes. However, I am not going to verify any of this for myself, thank you. No matter how special it is, it remains to me as crap in a cup. There are all types of excellent, exotic coffees that haven’t been recycled through a small, furry animal. Feel free to enjoy this one for yourself.

Shop for Unusual, Exotic & Extraordinary Coffees

Sea Island Coffee is based in Knightsbridge, London and is one of Europe’s leading importers of specialist coffees from around the world.

Each coffee offered delivers a wonderful and unique combination of taste, body and provenance supported and enhanced by an intriguing story that makes up what we call the “whole coffee experience”. This experience comes in part from the “cup quality” of each of our coffees and in part from the rareness, its exotic origin and the particular history behind each coffee. Together, the partners have over 50 years of unrivalled expertise and experience in growing, sourcing and importing rare, exotic, luxury coffees into Europe and the Far East.

We update and refine our list of coffees seasonally to capture and offer the very best of what is available in the world at any given moment.

Please click through our various coffee options to find out more and to place your order. All orders are usually dispatched within 24 – 48 hours. Domestic orders are shipped by First Class Royal Mail and International orders are shipped by Royal Airmail.

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Civet Coffee (Kopi Luwak)

What is Civet Coffee (Kopi Luwak)?

Civet coffee, also know as Kopi Luwak, is the most expensive and coveted gourmet coffee in the world. But it comes from a very unusual source, the droppings of Asian Palm Civets, a cat like animal native to Indonesia. The local name, Kopi Luwak, is effectively a local translation of Civet Coffee. "Kopi" is the Indonesian word for coffee and "Luwak" is local name for the Civet.

Civets feed on the raw, red coffee berries of the region but do not digest the inner bean of the berry, which instead are excreted. Locals then hand pick the partly digested coffee beans from the excrement and sell these onto dealers. There is no risk attached to the beans however, they are all washed, sterilised and roasted just like every other coffee bean.

The World's Most Expensive Coffee

The source of the beans doesn't seem to be deterring coffee lovers with Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee) selling for up to $1,300 per kilo, making it the most expensive coffee in the world according to Forbes Magazine.

Drinkers swear that it tastes like no other coffee in the world. In Queensland, Australia one small café is selling Civet Coffee for AUS $50 per cup and the price doesn't seem to deter anyone - locals and tourists alike line up to try it.

Only around 500 kg of Civet Coffee is produced each year making it very rare to find and difficult to order. Its not uncommon for suppliers to run out of stock. The Kopi Luwak that is produced is sold mainly in the US and Japan although it is slowly being found elsewhere.

Firebox is one of the few online retailers which sells civet coffee in the UK, the relevant page on their site can be found HERE.

What does Civet Coffee (Kopi Luwak) taste like?

Civet Coffee is described as having a rich chocolate like flavour with no aftertaste. This is thought to be due to the breakdown of the bean's proteins in the Covets intestine. These proteins being responsible for the bitterness of coffee generally.

An alternate theory is that the beans are of superior quality before they are even ingested. At any given point during a harvest only some coffee berries are perfeclty ripe. Some people claim that the civet has evolved to only forage for these ideal berries. As a result only the best coffee beans are excreted, resulting in the best civet coffee avaliable.