A Taiwanese research team has found a way to mimic the flavor of civet coffee — a beverage traditionally produced from the beans of digested coffee cherries found in the scat of wild common palm civets in Indonesia.
The passage of the beans through the civets’ intestines is said to give the coffee a unique flavor which is highly prized by connoisseurs, and the resulting product sells for gourmet prices.
National Pingtung University of Technology and Science vice dean Hsieh Pao-chuan (謝寶全), who headed the team, said that due to the questionable authenticity of much of the civet coffee on the market, and the poor quality of beans produced by caged civets, beans that can be proven to have come from wild civets are the most highly prized.
On a field trip to Indonesia with a team of scientists from the university’s department of food science, Hsieh said he had managed to extract 136 strains of bacteria from the intestines of civets, and had isolated 16 which had particular effects on Mandheling coffee beans. The researchers monitored the changes with experiments using gas chromatography.
After seven years of experimentation, Hsieh and his team managed to perfect a process for treating beans that produced “civet coffee” from the laboratory.
According to Hsieh, the lab-produced civet coffee has a strong aroma of fruit and flowers, and tastes of caramel, cinnamon and chocolate, adding that the coffee had a fruit-like hint of acidity in its aftertaste.
Fermentation of the lab-produced civet coffee is entirely managed by the lab and takes between 16 and 24 hours, Hsieh said, adding that compared with the original, their product is more sanitary and has only half the caffeine content.
The laboratory is currently pricing its “civet coffee” at NT$4,000 per 0.45kg, Hsieh said, adding that if the lab found ways to mass-produce it the price would drop.
Coffee shop owners said that at the price the team is currently asking, each cup of coffee would cost about NT$100, making the beverage a luxury product.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS