Droppings from inconstant heaven or why ‘civet coffee’ tastes so good
RENE EZPELETA BARTOLO
03/23/2008 | 08:35 PM
POLOMOLOK, South Cotabato – In this mountain village nestled at the foot of majestic Mt. Matutum, manna is animal waste dropped from clumps of coffee bushes.
From its lair high in the mountain, the civet (balos in the B’laan dialect; alamid in Tagalog. Scientific name, Paradoxorus Philippinensis ) descends in the early evening to feast the whole night on coffee berries. The animal discards the rind, consumes the berry whole, swallowing the bean.
In the early morning, the B’laan farmer scouts the ground under the coffee bushes for the excreta. He follows the telltale signs of discarded rind, alongside which lie the beans excreted by the animal.
“The digestive juices of the balos have a cleansing effect on the ingested coffee beans," explains Fred Fredeluces, an official of a fast-growing coffee processing firm. “Somehow, the passage of the coffee bean along the animal’s alimentary canal ‘decaffeinates’ the bean."
The company calls the beans “civet coffee" and in less than four months, marketing has expanded to the Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and General Santos City malls. “Civet coffee" is served in seven plush coffee shops in Metro Manila.
Maluig Buan, 75, stands over a mound of beans being dried on a sack under the sun.
“This coffee is an aphrodisiac," the B’laan farmer tells us proudly. In Visayan, he describes it as “pangpagahi ug pangpalig-on sa tuhod," - something that hardens and strengthens the knees.
Seeing the disbelief in our eyes, he proudly proclaims: “I am 75 years old; I have two wives, 24 children, and over a hundred grandchildren."
Maluig Buan’s joy over the coffee excreted by the civet is not so much because of the prolificity he believes it causes but of the profit it brings him and his family.
During the four-month coffee season that runs from December to March, Maluig harvests an average of one kilo daily. He sells the beans to Fredeluces’ company at P800 per kilo. Sometimes, when the pickings are good, the B’laan farmer earns over P25,000 a month.
Fredeluces’ firm sells the coffee to clients in major cities of the country at P5,000 per kilo – a neat profit, indeed. A 70-gram pack of the coffee, marketed as Kape Balos, sells for P500.
Most of Maluig Buan’s neighbors in Purok 8, Barangay Kinilis, in the Municipality of Polomolok , pick excreted coffee beans and earn money beyond their expectations four months in a year.
When coffee is not in season, what does he do?
“I plant vegetables like Kentucky beans, cabbage and tomatoes," the B’laan with 2 wives, 24 children and over 100 grandchildren answered. “There’s not much to earn with vegetables," he says.
He says his children and grandchildren go to school until they finish the elementary grades.
"After that, they work in the fields or get married," he says.
Maluig Buan is 75 years old. Despite whatever magical powers he believes the excreted coffee has, his life will not last long.
When Maluig is gone, his children and grandchildren will take to his task of picking the droppings of the balos.
This author points that to him. His answer in the vernacular seems sad and laconic.
“Maayo tani magsige pamus-on ini nga sapat hantod sa hantod!"
(I hope this animal will excrete forever!) - GMANews.TV
From its lair high in the mountain, the civet (balos in the B’laan dialect; alamid in Tagalog. Scientific name, Paradoxorus Philippinensis ) descends in the early evening to feast the whole night on coffee berries. The animal discards the rind, consumes the berry whole, swallowing the bean.
In the early morning, the B’laan farmer scouts the ground under the coffee bushes for the excreta. He follows the telltale signs of discarded rind, alongside which lie the beans excreted by the animal.
“The digestive juices of the balos have a cleansing effect on the ingested coffee beans," explains Fred Fredeluces, an official of a fast-growing coffee processing firm. “Somehow, the passage of the coffee bean along the animal’s alimentary canal ‘decaffeinates’ the bean."
The company calls the beans “civet coffee" and in less than four months, marketing has expanded to the Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and General Santos City malls. “Civet coffee" is served in seven plush coffee shops in Metro Manila.
Maluig Buan, 75, stands over a mound of beans being dried on a sack under the sun.
“This coffee is an aphrodisiac," the B’laan farmer tells us proudly. In Visayan, he describes it as “pangpagahi ug pangpalig-on sa tuhod," - something that hardens and strengthens the knees.
Seeing the disbelief in our eyes, he proudly proclaims: “I am 75 years old; I have two wives, 24 children, and over a hundred grandchildren."
Maluig Buan’s joy over the coffee excreted by the civet is not so much because of the prolificity he believes it causes but of the profit it brings him and his family.
During the four-month coffee season that runs from December to March, Maluig harvests an average of one kilo daily. He sells the beans to Fredeluces’ company at P800 per kilo. Sometimes, when the pickings are good, the B’laan farmer earns over P25,000 a month.
Fredeluces’ firm sells the coffee to clients in major cities of the country at P5,000 per kilo – a neat profit, indeed. A 70-gram pack of the coffee, marketed as Kape Balos, sells for P500.
Most of Maluig Buan’s neighbors in Purok 8, Barangay Kinilis, in the Municipality of Polomolok , pick excreted coffee beans and earn money beyond their expectations four months in a year.
When coffee is not in season, what does he do?
“I plant vegetables like Kentucky beans, cabbage and tomatoes," the B’laan with 2 wives, 24 children and over 100 grandchildren answered. “There’s not much to earn with vegetables," he says.
He says his children and grandchildren go to school until they finish the elementary grades.
"After that, they work in the fields or get married," he says.
Maluig Buan is 75 years old. Despite whatever magical powers he believes the excreted coffee has, his life will not last long.
When Maluig is gone, his children and grandchildren will take to his task of picking the droppings of the balos.
This author points that to him. His answer in the vernacular seems sad and laconic.
“Maayo tani magsige pamus-on ini nga sapat hantod sa hantod!"
(I hope this animal will excrete forever!) - GMANews.TV
