Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/673312
50 Tea & Coffee Trade Journal | www.teaandcoffee.net tives that produce organic and other certified coffees, we regularly tour the farms to inspect the conditions," said Mahyuddin, who like many people in Indonesia only uses one name. Real or Urban Legend? In 2013, Wilmot's buying team at Sea Island Coffee in London started to work with the British non-profit organization World Animal Protection to develop an "independent accredited certification stan- dard for Kopi Luwak" to ensure that the Luwak coffee sold by the company is 100 percent traceable back to wild Luwaks. Team members even traveled to the Gayo mountains themselves to inspect farms firsthand and visit with growers they buy Luwak coffee from before the company launched its new "Wild Kopi Luwak" coffee brand last year. "We are very pleased to have been able to contribute to the debate, see that cam- paigners have agreed to end their call for an indiscriminate blanket ban on every- thing sold as 'Kopi Luwak' and instead focus on supporting the development of independent accredited worldwide certi- fication program for wild animal coffee," said Wilmot. While many in the industry remain convinced that Kopi Luwak is little more than an urban legend, the quality in cup- ping results–when proper comparison is done with a Grade 1 sample of Luwak beans and not just any random selection– are stunning. "The Luwak coffee I tried was just incredibly smooth with a very floral aroma, and much more pronounced than what I have tried in any other coffee," said Victor Garcia, a Brussels-based Mexican computer technician and avid coffee lover who, for years, has searched for the perfect cup across his travels in Latin America and Western Europe. "I would definitive- ly buy it for a special dinner with friends who appreciate good coffee," he added. "Wild Kopi Luwak is definitely an event coffee and splits opinions massively when it comes to cupping," said Wilmot, but addded, "Ask any coffee industry professional and each will have a differ- ent opinion, but Kopi Luwak has always been a naturally part of the collection of rare coffees that we focus on, and when sourced and roasted correctly, wild Kopi Luwak can be a delight to the cup." After a marathon session of trying multiple Luwak coffees from four differ- ent regions on three of Indonesia's seven coffee islands, this reporter agrees. Luwak is based on a more than 300-year-old tra- dition and may as such qualify for being the world's oldest specialty bean. It's real and it's time to give Luwak coffee the second chance it deserves in the specialty industry. Maja Wallengren has been writing about coffee for more than 20 years and has spe- cialized in coffee during her travels as a reporter to over 45 coffee producing coun- tries across Southeast Asia, East and West Africa and across Latin America. She is based in Mexico City and may be reached at: mwallengren@outlook.com. special report: indonesia part iii (Left) beans form a Luwak dropping just col- lected from the ground. (Above) a sampling of Luwak coffee beans from Bali. K L O T H & K Ö H N K E N T E E H A N D E L G M B H K O N S U L - S M I D T - S T R A S S E 8 j S P E I C H E R 1 - D - 2 8 2 17 B R E M E N FON + 4 9 - 4 2 1 - 3 4 8 5 2 6 4 FAX + 4 9 - 4 2 1 - 3 4 7 7 7 2 0 W W W . K K T E E . D E M A I L @ K K T E E . D E IT SUITS ALL MERCHANTS TO TRADE FAIR AND QUALI-TEA ! Kloth+Kohnken_Ukers11 8/25/10 12:08 PM Page 1