Dive Brief:
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A new coffee brand aims to mimic the fermentation process that occurs when animals ingest and pass coffee cherries prior to roasting by using hot thermal springs instead, according to Food Navigator.
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Coffee that has been through the digestive tract of civet cats or elephants has a smooth, less bitter flavor than regular coffee and can fetch upwards of $100 a pound, but the process is perceived as cruel and unappetizing by many consumers. Recently launched coffee brand Break the Cup ferments green coffee beans in Costa Rican thermal springs to produce a coffee with a similar flavor and low acidity, without the need to collect the beans from animal droppings.
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The resulting coffee is available to buy online, but is not yet available in stores — although the company’s founder says he is in talks with high-end coffee shops and hotels and hopes to gain distribution in specialty and natural retail channels.
Dive Insight:
Kopi luwak, as animal-assisted fermented coffee is known in its native Indonesia, is the world’s most expensive coffee. Originally collected from the droppings of wild civet cats, the coffee has become a sought-after product over the past couple of decades and its production has become increasingly industrialized. Now, it is likely that much of the world’s civet coffee comes from caged wild civet cats, often kept in appalling conditions.
Break the Cup’s fermentation process is patent-pending, meaning the exact process is not yet open to scrutiny, but it is not the first time that a company has tried to emulate kopi luwak’s flavor without the animals. Another such brand is Afineur, a U.S.-based firm started by food scientists, which uses a two-day fermentation process inspired by civet coffee to produce a brew with very low bitterness and astringency. At $49 for a 10-ounce pack, it is cheaper than genuine wild civet coffee, but is still undeniably pricey.
Break the Cup’s process, on the other hand, is relatively cheap, and the company sells a 16-ounce pack of its specially treated coffee for $16.99. Without trying it, it is hard to know whether the taste will live up to the company’s claims. However, at just a couple of dollars more than an average pack of coffee, it is much less of an investment than other fermented options.