Not From The Horse’s Mouth

Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is one of the world’s most expensive and least-produced varieties of coffee. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian palm civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. In its stomach, enzymes seep into the beans. The beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting, and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness than traditional coffee. This coffee is certainly one of the world’s most expensive, with prices reaching up to $160 per pound.

The question is, is it kosher? I researched the question, and it seems to have been asked frequently but not answered conclusively. A well-known book on kashrus likewise raised the question a number of years ago with no answer. If you keep hallal, the Indonesian Mufti Council ruled that the coffee beans are okay as long as they are cleaned. But is it kosher?

The answer to the question is based on our daf. The Gemara in Bechoros (7a) raises the question whether donkey urine is kosher. Apparently, in the times of the Gemara people consumed it for medicinal purposes. Rav Sheshes concluded that it was not. There is some question regarding urine from horses and camels. Are they non-kosher as well? It is interesting to note that a well-known drug called Premarin (used in hormone replacement therapy) comes from a mare’s urine. According to one version of Rav Sheshes’s ruling, horse and camel urine are the same as donkey urine, and are not kosher. However, according to another version, horse and camel urine undergo minimal processing in their host’s digestive tract and are therefore kosher. They differ from donkey urine, which is more substantive.

The Gemara discusses a related subject. It is an undisputed halachah that honey from bees is kosher, even though a bee is certainly a non-kosher insect. There is an argument in the Gemara regarding the reasoning. Is it due to a special verse in the Torah that specifically permits bee honey, or is it because honey is not considered a true secretion of a bee? A true secretion of a non-kosher insect would be considered non-kosher following the dictum of our sages of “Hayotzei min ha’tamei tamei,” a product of a non-kosher creature is non-kosher as well.

However, the Gemara suggests that honey is not really a product of the bee. The bee functions only as a carrier and facilitator of the nectar it sucks from plants. Since nectar is kosher, honey is kosher as well. The halachic difference between the two possibilities is regarding the permissibility of honey produced by other insects, such as the polistinae wasp. If there is a special verse to permit honey, then it would only apply to bee honey. If it is because the nectar is minimally processed inside the insect, then honey produced by any insect would be kosher.

The Rambam rules that all types of honey produced by insects are kosher. He also rules that urine from a non-kosher animal is kosher. However, most other rishonim (Ramban, Rosh, et al.) disagree. They say that only bee honey is kosher and that urine from non-kosher animals is not kosher. (The Aruch HaShulchan says that the rulings on wasp honey and horse urine are based on the same reasoning.)

I am not sure if a parallel can be made between the coffee beans excreted by the civet and horse urine. Perhaps the coffee beans undergo more processing inside its host civet and are not kosher even according to the Rambam. However, the Rishonim who disagree with the Rambam would rule that the beans are not kosher, since it is arguably not better than wasp honey or horse urine. Since it involves a biblical prohibition, we would rule stringently that civet coffee is not kosher.

After I wrote this article, a relative of mine asked a well-known poseik for his opinion. He disagreed with my reasoning. The coffee beans secreted by the civet are whole. While enzymes might have affected the bean, the bean did not change form at all. It is halachicly better than insect honey, which underwent a change from nectar. Therefore, all Rishonim would agree that civet coffee is kosher. I have also heard that some other rabbonim disagree. So if you have the money to spare on this coffee, ask your local rabbi for guidance.

If you are grossed out by the consumption of civet coffee, then there may be an additional prohibition involved: ba’al tishaktzu. One aspect of that prohibition is that you cannot eat something that repulses you. I hope this article wasn’t too repulsive.