Kafe Balos

The Philippines has produced one of the world's finest and coveted coffees. It comes from an unusual source - the droppings or excreta of a nocturnal, mongoose-related, cat-like animal called the palm civet. In the past, civets have been usually seen as pests in the country and hunted for their meat. Known locally as balos (B'laan dialect), these mammals are omnivorous, supplementing their meat diet with fruit, eggs, and edible roots. They also have a taste for the sweetest, ripest and premium quality coffee cherries.

The balos remove the exocarp of the selected coffee cherries and swallow them. The parchments pass through the civet's digestive system, naturally fermented giving Kafe Balos its unique taste and aroma. Both male and female balos produce a musk coming from strong-smelling secretion of the cat's perinea glands. the enzymes inside its stomach break down the flesh of the fruit before the animals expel the bean making Kafe Balos more oily, aromatic and possessing an excellent taste that you can get for the value of your money.

 Early in the morning before sunrise, the forest dwellers prepare themselves to search and hand pick the precious coffee parchment droppings from the forest floors. They wash it to remove the dung and then dried. Finally, the parchment is hulled and the beans are precision-roasted to produce a unique drink that is good to the last dropping.

As you buy Kafe Balos, you support the preservation of the Balos, you take an active part in the preservation and rehabilitation of its habitat (watershed). You also support the economic sustainability of the upland communities who are dwelling along the forest who serve as forest guardians.