Kalinga now brewing own exotic civet cat coffee

Tabuk City, Kalinga – Kalinga province is now brewing civet cat coffee, its own version of the exotic world renowned blend of coffee coming from the droppings of the mountain civet cat.  

Trade and Industry officials here recently launched the Kape de Motit, yet another of the four coffee blends in Kalinga, perhaps coveting the tag as “Cordilleras’ coffee capital” known for local villagers’ love for strong brewed coffee and vast coffee plantations in the province’s highlands.    

Processed by the Nor Ref Food Products of Tabuk City, the expensive brew according to Maria Cecilia Baral, senior trade and industry development specialist of the Department of Trade and Industry Kalinga, is traced to the motit – a cat-like wild animal that feeds on delicately selected red coffee berries.  The beans are not digested and are excreted by the motit.

These beans are then collected and processed just like any ordinary coffee bean.

Unlike ordinary coffee, the civet cat coffee bean produces a distinct taste and aroma believed to be due to the enzyme and breakdown of the bean’s proteins in the civet’s intestine aside from the high quality of beans being picked by the civet when feeding.

One the most popularly known civet coffee —Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee) – produced in Indonesia is selling up to $1,300 per kilo.  Indonesians sell their civet coffee beans in the US and Japan.

Forbes Magazine has tagged the civet cat coffee as the most expensive coffee in the world.

The Kape de Motit is the fourth processed coffee brew in Kalinga.  Earlier, the province’s coffee growers had been producing their own Kalinga Brew, Kalinga Blend and the Mananig Wild Coffee, said the government-run Philippine Information Agency.   – Artemio Dumlao