Afineur, a biotech startup founded by two PhDs, is using microbial fermentation to produce coffee that mimics the flavor of kopi luwak—the world's most expensive coffee, which traditionally requires beans to pass through a civet's digestive tract. The company's first product, a fermented peaberry coffee from Guatemala, is now available on Kickstarter for $45 per 10 ounces, roughly $5 per cup.
Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is made from coffee cherries eaten and excreted by the Asian palm civet, a small wildcat native to Indonesia. The animal's digestive enzymes alter the beans' flavor, producing a smooth, less bitter cup that commands premium prices—a pound currently sells for $169 on Amazon. Afineur aims to replicate that flavor without involving the animal, using a process that co-founder Camille Delebecque describes as "precision fermentation."
"We try to understand which flavor molecules are interesting or not, we select natural bacteria strains that can do the job through enzyme production, then we do fermentation on green processed beans," Delebecque said in an interview.
The process begins with green coffee beans, which Afineur subjects to a solid-state fermentation for 24 to 48 hours. The beans are then roasted at the Pulley Collective in Brooklyn, resulting in a product with a worn, washed appearance and a texture distinct from conventionally processed coffee. The company selected a peaberry bean from Guatemala, which is smaller than standard coffee beans, and refined the process through hundreds of iterations, using chromatography and mass spectrometry to evaluate the results.
How Fermentation Recreates the Civet Effect
Fermentation is a natural process already used in foods like wine, pickles, and cheese. In the civet's digestive system, fermentation contributes to kopi luwak's distinctive flavor. Afineur's founders—Delebecque and Sophie Deterre—searched scientific literature to identify specific bacteria that target flavor precursors, then developed a cocktail of microbes to achieve the desired profile.
"We look at proteomics, metabolomics, data. We use cocktails of microbes, full microbial communities," Delebecque said. The industrial process remains proprietary, but the company's approach reflects a broader trend in food biotechnology: using microbes as a precision tool to modify flavor and nutrition.
Delebecque noted that fermentation has been used for thousands of years, but the difference now is an increased understanding of biology. "We can start using microbes as a precision tool to replace artificial flavoring," he said.
Afineur's coffee has been described as a new experience even for coffee snobs. A taste test revealed little bitterness, with heavy grassy chocolate tones and a flavor closer to tea than coffee. The company plans to expand beyond coffee, potentially applying its fermentation technology to cereals and grains, and even to alter nutritional profiles—for example, using microbes to break down indigestible compounds or enhance specific nutrients like vitamin B3.
While Afineur's coffee is priced higher than typical high-end beans, it remains significantly cheaper than authentic kopi luwak. Delebecque is confident in the product's quality, stating, "We think we're going way past kopi luwak in terms of quality."
