Coffee Luwak, Unethically Produced?

Being sold at around 90 US dollars a cup in the coffee-shops of the world’s major metropolitan areas, would you ever consider boycotting coffee luwak if you find out that it was unethically produced? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Once considered a freebie by coffee plantation workers in the Malay Peninsula since the 18^th Century, that is before the world’s coffee connoisseurs discovered the distinctive mild tea-like taste of coffee luwak. To the uninitiated and however you spell it, coffee luwak / kopi luwak or "civet coffee" is made – or more accurately brewed from - coffee berries that had been eaten by the native wild civet cats that roam the region’s coffee plantations then passed though their digestive system. Despite “sanitation concerns” of brewing coffee form beans that had been literally picked from the droppings of wild civet cats were swiftly set aside once coffee aficionados around the world fell in love with the distinctive mild tea-like taste of coffee luwak - mainly due to the civet cat's proteolytic enzymes in its digestive system that seeps into the swallowed coffee beans resulting in shorter peptides and more free amino acids - which now often sells for around 90 US dollars a cup in posh coffee shops of the world’s major metropolitan areas. But how ethically produced are coffee lowak currently being marketed around the world today? 

Purists insists that for this product to pass muster as genuine coffee luwak – the plantation grown coffee beans must  and should be eaten by free (free range?) civet cats. But due to the ongoing deforestation of Malaysia’s tropical forests and those in the surrounding Malay Peninsula region, free / wild civet cats are fast becoming a rarity so what does an enterprising coffee lowak producer resorts to just to keep his or her bottom line fat – battery farming of civet cats? 

Unfortunately that is what they just did for over a decade now. The sad fact is that civet cats don’t adapt well in captivity and most die by having their respiratory system being infected by a SARS like virus due to being confined in close quarters whose symptoms often include a bloody stool once a typical infected civet cat passes out coffee beans with their excrement. Recent hidden camera investigation by various nature and environmental groups only confirm the mass scale of the civet cats being kept in deplorable battery farms. Dr. Neil D’Cruze of the World Society of the Protection of Animals had already called on authorities to stop the unethical production coffee luwak in the Malay Peninsula that violate existing global animal welfare laws. 

Some Few Oft Talked About Coffee Myths

They might seem believable but is there any truth to the most talked about coffee myths that we encounter on a daily basis?

By: Ringo Bones 

There may be more of them out there and some of them we might know of in the near future, but is there any truth of these so-called coffee myths? As of late, there are some that has been discussed by various medical doctors who appeared in popular TV talk shows and some of them are as follows: 

Coffee dehydrates the body – its diuretic effects are only mild but coffee can legitimately be counted as your “daily water intake quota” - at least according to a doctor who looks after US troops stationed in Iraq. But an extra cup of coffee does increases your chances of visiting the bathroom within the next half an hour.

Milk with coffee is a cure for sensitive stomachs - As of late, doctors recommend cool water as a better cure for sensitive stomachs than milk with coffee. Although milk with coffee can “relieve” the burning sensation of that extra hot chili dish way better than cool water. 

Coffee causes heart pains – if you only drink one or two cups of coffee daily and have no preexisting heart condition, then its okay. According to the latest medical research, sugars and artificially produced hydrogenated fats are more dangerous to your heart than the caffeine content of one or two cups of coffee a day. Two much sugar could even increase ones chances of getting Type-II diabetes. 

Pregnant women shouldn’t drink coffee – even though in laboratory test animals caffeine doesn’t transfer from the mother’s bloodstream to the unborn’s placenta thus minimizing any potential teratogenic side effects of coffee, we humans tend to err on the side of discretionary caution when it comes to this so called coffee myth. Not that there’s anything wrong with it though. 

Caffeine Content: How High Is Too Much?

Even though coffee – despite its newly-found health benefits – can cause more harm than good in certain people, does this mean that caffeine content awareness of our cup of joe is now of paramount importance?

By: Ringo Bones

Ever since boutique coffee and espresso shops gained mainstream popularity in the wave of the Seattle Grunge boom back in the early 1990s, most commercial coffee shops of varying degrees of craft-cred, had been mandatorily asking their customers if they have a preexisting heart condition before allowing them to consume another cup of their caffeinated brew. Given the clear and present danger posed by caffeine on certain people, should everyone be mindful – especially us patrons and consumers – on the exact levels of caffeine found in our daily cup of joe?

Recent studies have shown that a typical cup of coffee contains 50 mg worth of caffeine, while famous franchised coffee shops – like Starbucks – contain 51 mg worth of caffeine per cup. Surprisingly, some up-market “slow-food” boutique coffee shops have a caffeine content as much as 6 times that normally found in a typical daily cup of coffee. Given that caffeine for a number of years now had been deemed harmful to unborn babies and expectant mothers have since been advised by their physician not to drink coffee or any caffeinated beverage during their pregnancy, should there be more public awareness campaign on the health risks of consuming too much caffeine?

In a BBC interview back in December 2, 2011, Jeffrey Young of the London Coffee Guide says that on the result of an on-going study on the caffeine content of commercial coffee shops around London, it has been found out that some up-market specialist espresso shops serve coffee that contains up to 360 mg of caffeine per cup. That’s a little over 6 times the 50 mg caffeine content of a typical cup of coffee most of us consume. Should up-market specialist espresso shops be mandatorily required to carry health warnings?

Powdered Instant Starbucks Coffee: The End of Civilization?

As one of the biggest high-end Barista-prepared coffee franchise in the world, does the recent introduction of a powdered instant Starbucks coffee means the end of civilization as we know it?


By: Ringo Bones


As the designated “coffee-man” of my peer group, I and the rest of us had acquired a taste of genuinely brewed coffee that probably only an on-going post apocalyptic nuclear winter – or catastrophic climate change – would had us revert to drinking freeze-dried powdered instant coffee. But as Starbucks experimented its own version of the devil a few years ago – is this the surest sign that the end of civilization is nigh?

To seasoned coffee connoisseurs, there is really nothing like enjoying a properly prepared brewed coffee. And we probably reached a consensus long ago that that freeze-dried powdered instant coffee is an abominable form of coffee drinking. I had yet to try Starbucks’ version of freeze dried powdered instant coffee that some say is close enough in taste to their properly brewed cuppa that Starbucks Instant Coffee could relegate Barista’s to the dustbin of history.

If you ask for my opinion, I think there’s more to being a coffee connoisseur than convenience. A good tasting coffee is of prime importance though, but how that coffee is prepared is part of a revered Western ritual than some Japanese even compare it to a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. And with our increasing awareness of the injustices brought about by globalization, the corporate social responsibility compliance of the coffee that we consume has also become part of the equation. Remember folks, support your local Barista, it’s the socially responsible thing to do for us capitalist coffee consumers.

Is Coffee a Cancer Preventive?

Current research has shown that coffee contains substances that could prevent cancer, has the purveyors of Patent Medicine missed this boat years ago?


By: Ringo Bones


Even though the Golden Age of Patent Medicine – i.e. the 19th Century – is already a distant past, contemporary purveyors of Patent Medicines – i.e. the health food faddists – are probably kicking themselves for missing to exploit a marketing potential. Especially when a recent legitimate medical study had shown that one of the worlds most ubiquitous beverage – namely coffee - contains substances that could prevent cancer.

Scientists working on the medical study had identified substances in coffee that has promising potential in preventing cancer called melanoidins. Melanoidins give roasted coffee beans their brown color. Laboratory tests have shown that melanoidins have anti-cancer properties because they restrict the cancer cell’s ability to produce the MMP enzyme that allows them to spread or metastasize.

The longer the coffee beans are roasted, the more melanoidins it contains. Even though the on-going medical studies are focused on intestinal tract cancers, the melanoidins and caffeine content of coffee might also have prophylactic effects on some cancers like ovarian cancer. Even though full results of the coffee anti-cancer property study still await further evaluation, preliminary results have shown that melanoidins do have the power to inhibit the MMP cancer enzyme in laboratory tests.

If the on-going research eventually proves that regular coffee intake has cancer preventive properties, you should consult your GP first before starting to drink coffee on a regular basis. Especially if you have a preexisting high-blood pressure or other related cardiovascular disorders which could be exacerbated via increased coffee consumption. But in spite of all this, looks like the humble “Cup of Joe” has finally received due appreciation not just for its good taste and the way it wakes most of us during the start of our day.