Bali is famous for it's coffee called Luwak- apparently the most expensive coffee in the world (£500 per kg). I've never been to the coffee plantation before and after working in the coffee shop for so many years I am kind of interested in the whole process of creating a perfect cup.
Plantation which we wanted to visit is hidden in the middle of the island and without the motorbike (and google maps) it would've been really hard to find it. We were both quite surprised by the variety of things which grow there; it wasn't only coffee but also cocoa, ginger and all sort of spices and flowers which are used for flavouring coffee, tea, sugar etc.
The lady which guided us through the plantation explained to us the difference between coffee species and told us why Luwak coffee is so special. Asian palm civets are eating the berries and digested coffee bean is collected from their feces. Apparently the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms; selection and digestion. Selection occurs when the civets choose to eat coffee berries containing better beans. Digestive mechanism improves the flavour. I think the idea is quite extraordinary but there is one thing to remember, those animals often are abused, kept in small cages and force fed.
After separating coffee beans from the feces comes roasting (1kg for 1 hour) then crushing and sieving. We tried all sort of coffees and teas there: ginseng, ginger, vanilla, coconut, lemongrass, rose, red rice, mango and obviously Luwak coffee. I think the winner for us was a ginseng one.
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