This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets and the conditions they are made to live in, which include isolation, poor diet, small cages, and a high mortality rate.

In the 19th century, farmers in central Java started to brew and drink coffee from excreted beans collected at their plantations.

[11] Kopi luwak is brewed from coffee beans that traversed the gastrointestinal tract of an Asian palm civet, and were thus subjected to a combination of acidic, enzymatic, and fermentation treatment.

[15] The taste of kopi luwak varies with the type and origin of excreted beans, processing, roasting, aging, and brewing.

The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) states that there is a "general consensus within the industry...it just tastes bad".

[18] Some critics claim more generally that kopi luwak is simply bad coffee, purchased for novelty rather than taste.

[24][25][26] Vietnamese companies sell an imitation kopi luwak, made using an enzyme soak which they claim replicates the civet's digestive process.

[29] Growing numbers of intensive civet "farms" have been established and are operated in Southeast Asia, confining tens of thousands of animals to live in battery cages and be force-fed.

[30][31][32] "The conditions are awful, much like battery chickens", said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.

[6] The trade in palm civets for the production of kopi luwak may constitute a significant threat to wild populations.

[2] In 2013, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) investigators found wild-caught civets on farms in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Video footage from the investigation shows abnormal behaviours such as repeated pacing, circling, or biting the bars of their cages.

Farmers using caged palm civets in north Sumatra confirmed that they supplied kopi luwak beans to exporters whose produce ends up in Europe and Asia.

[42][43] In the movie The Bucket List, billionaire health care magnate Edward Cole (played by Jack Nicholson) brings kopi luwak with him on all of his travels, but is unaware of how the drink is produced.

The Japanese manga series Beastars features an anthropomorphic civet character named Deshico that produces kopi luwak.