Davao Delicious

Kangaroo Coffee Company launched last Saturday to a group of bloggers their specialty blend, Kape Balos. It’s civet coffee!

How can I put this in a way that won’t make you feel queasy…?

Well, it’s arguably the most expensive coffee in the world. That should tell you something about the quality and taste of this kind of coffee, right? Civet coffee, or Kape Alamid in Tagalog, is brewed from coffee beans that had been ingested by the civet (alamid or musang in Tagalog, balos in the language of the B’laan tribe).

The civet, you see, loves to eat coffee berries, which are apparently sweet. It digests the fruit and the coffee beans are deposited. The B’laan folk — who now find themselves being paid handsomely for a new livelihood — gather the beans from out in the wild and sell them to coffee buyers.

The beans, of course, go through a process of sanitation and quality control. In Mindanao, the coffee beans are of the arabica variety, which accounts for the aromatic quality of Kape Balos. What’s interesting is that, the coffee is actually full-bodied; this is not normally the quality of arabica beans.

At P300 a pop (Kangaroo serves it in a French press, with enough for a mug), I had high expectations for it, taste-wise. And I was not disappointed at all. In fact, Kape Balos is all that it’s hyped up to be.

Despite its robustness, Kape Balos doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste. There is, in fact, a fruity undertone that subtly swirls through this golden elixir of the gods. Also, it has very low acidity, which makes for a really great coffee experience.

Unless you have money to throw around, Kape Balos is definitely not everyday fare. Mark Seng, one of the owners of Kangaroo Coffee Company, says that the market price for a half kilo of civet coffee beans is around P9,000! Still, it’s good to know that there is this special blend in town for that special occasion, or for when you want to treat yourself to an exceptional brew.

Why is it so expensive? Well, the demand is high, especially in first-world countries. Plus, the supply is quite low. Mark mentioned that the B’laan tribe in Mindanao produces less than 20kg of civet coffee beans in a month — and most of that, of course, is exported.

Now, let’s talk about the food at Kangaroo Coffee. By the way, the owners are not Australian, and they don’t serve kangaroo meat or anything like that. Apart from their name and the boomerangs on display, there’s no connection to the island country.

Aside from the civet coffee (and Chinese tea), they served us two kinds of pasta, an appetizer, and lots of desserts — all of which they make themselves. My friend Bob Martin liked the Baked Penne, which was good but a tad sweet for my taste. What I preferred was the Smoked Fish Pasta. It was chock full of tasty smoked sardines (or at least I think it was sardines), lovely olives, and spices. And not too salty either. That spaghetti dish had subtle flavors that played delightfully in my palate.

The appetizer was Crostini with Paté. (I wonder why most coffee shops in town gravitate towards Italian cuisine…?) This dish was OK, but nothing spectacular. The bread was too thick to be enjoyable, though.

But the confectionery — oooohh! Delicious!! They obviously have a supplier for some of their cakes, but the items they served us were all their own concoctions. My favorite: the Graham Marshmallow. At first I didn’t want to try it because I’d gotten so full already (after gorging myself on the Smoked Fish Pasta). But after one tiny taste of it, I just had to have more! It’s actually not marshmallow, according to Mark, but some sort of cream that they torch to get that effect. And the effect is a visually and gastronomically pleasing piece of dessert.

The Kanga Nuggets and Choco Mint Cookies were also good. Both are perfect with Kangaroo’s coffees. Speaking of which, Kape Balos is best taken without sugar, but do have the Kanga Nuggets with it!

They also served us New York Cheesecake, which might’ve been a hit for me, but I was way too engrossed in the Nuggets…

Kangaroo Coffee Company, one of the newest cafés in town, is located on the corner of Tionko and Mapa streets, very close to Bangko Sentral and across from Sunburst Fried Chicken. Tel. (82)222-2800, 222-2766.

Tags: civet coffee, Italian, pasta

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