Monkey Parchment Coffee: Biodynamic Methods and Cosmic Cycles on Indian Organic Farms With Civets

The name Balmadies carries the meaning of “cow’s udder” when translated to English from the Tamil language of south India and northeast Sri Lanka. The terminology communicates bounteousness. In terms of animal coffee production, it designates a farm that benefits from prime location:

• Among spectacular scenery of dense forests, lofty peaks, and verdant plains;
• As part of the Western Ghats mountain range, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site;
• At altitudes of 4,593.18 feet (1,400 meters) above sea level;
• In one of countless lush valleys;
• Near many rushing streams;
• On fertile soils;
• Within the Nilgiris (Blue Mountains) District of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu (The Land of Tamils, Tamil Country).

The Estate’s location does not fall within the recognized southernmost extent in the native bio-geographies of Rhesus monkeys. Amateurs, experts, and locals expect the day-tripping, swim-crazy primate to move digitigrade (tip-toed) and plantigrade (flat-footed) throughout India north of the peninsula’s southerly tip. They only find the fruit-loving, pink-faced omnivore in India’s two southernmost states -- Kerala and Tamil Nadu -- as a result of captivity, domestication, introduction, naturalization, research, or serendipity. Balmadies Estate therefore fits not at all within the native lands of Rhesus monkeys but well within the native distributional ranges of:

• Asian common palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, hermaphroditic paradox);
• Jerdon’s brown palm civets (Paradoxurus jerdoni, Jerdon’s paradox);
• Small Indian civets (Viverricula indica, little Indian ferret).

Asian common and Jerdon’s brown palm civets belong to the group of African and Asian civets that appreciate palm flowers, fruits, nectar, and sap. Sympatric (same-ranging) small Indian civets likewise consume fruits. But mammalogists define the grey-/yellow-brown ground-dwellers as insectivorous (insect-eating) omnivores (everything-eaters) whose diets minimize:

• Carrion;
• Fruits;
• Roots;
• Small birds, mammals and reptiles.

They contrastingly describe Asian common and Jerdon’s brown palm civets as frugivorous omnivores whose diets emphasize pulpy, small-seeded, water-filled berries and drupes. Both color-blind, night-active civets frequent coffee trees (Coffea arabica, C. robusta) even though Jerdon’s brown palm civets particularly relish the marble tree’s (Elaeocarpus munronii) blue-colored fruits and the Ceylon olive (Elaeocarpus serratus) and Indian gutta (Palaquium ellipticum) trees’ bigger, green-colored fruits.

Through eating drupes and expelling beans, Asian common palm civets are the standard sources of:

• Indonesia’s kopi luwak (civet coffee);
• Philippines’ kape alamid (civet coffee, weasel coffee);
• Vietnam’s cà phê chồn (civet coffee, weasel coffee).

They become an entrepreneur’s first choice among civets for five revenue-generating reasons:

• Animal coffee;
• Bushmeat;
• Ceremonial attire and jewelry;
• Musky perfume-stabilizers;
• Traditional medicines.

They in fact carry the (misleading) species name hermaphroditus because their substantial scent glands occur on both genders and remind experts of civet male reproductive organs. They also get called:

• Obligate environmentalists for controlling invertebrate populations and dispersing shrub/tree seeds;
• Pests for haunting chiku (Manilkara zapota), coffee (Coffea arabica, C. robusta), mango (Mangifera indica), and rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) plantations.

But nobody at Balmadies Estate calls civets pests. The farm’s owner-operators commit to Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner’s (February 27, 1861 – March 30, 1925) biodynamic production and organic agriculture. They therefore exclude:

• Chemical fertilizers;
• Growth-regulating hormones;
• Off-farm inputs;
• Synthetic biocides.

They favor:

• Biodiversity preserves (forests, insectaries, predator habitats, riparian corridors, wetlands);
• Diverse, native, non-invasive, perennial plantings;
• Crop rotation every 2 years;
• Green/livestock manure;
• Herb-enhanced (chamomile, dandelion, stinging nettle, valerian, yarrow blossoms; horsetail; oak bark) organic compost;
• Mineral-fortified (crushed powdered quartz) fungicides;
• Mulching;
• On-farm animal feed;
• On-site pollination;
• Year-round green ground-cover.

They have lunar phases and planetary positions within zodiacal constellations decide all farm-related events. They view the farm as an on-site, sustainable whole respecting all components, including predators.

The geographical presence of coffee shrubs/trees between the Tropics of Cancer and of Capricorn -- between latitudes 23°North and 23°South -- begins with the 17th-century economic initiatives of Dutch colonialists. The flowering, fruiting evergreen historically calls home northeast Africa’s Horn. But depending upon the variety, it flourishes wherever Africa, America (Caribbean, Central, South), and Asia offer:

• Altitudes of 656.17 – 2,624.67 feet (200 – 800 meters) above sea level for robust varieties and of 2,624.67 - 6,561.68 feet (800 – 2,000 meters) for Arabian coffees;
• Cooler nights and warmer days;
• Low-acidic or neutral soils, with pH levels of 5.5 - 6.5;
• 9-month wet seasons receiving 59.06 – 98.43 inches (1,500 – 2,500 millimeters) of rainfall;
• Year-round temperatures of 59 – 75ºF (15 – 24ºC).

Monkey parchment coffee from Balmadies Estate gets described as:

• Balancing acidity and sweetness;
• Being deeply aromatic;
• Evoking dark chocolate and orange-toned, roasted nuts;
• Feeling syrup-like;
• Tasting resonantly smooth and subtly acidic.

Research by University of Guelph food scientist Massimo Marcone in Ontario, Canada helps explain the attractions of India’s monkey parchment coffee. It indicates that:

• 40 teeth cut and grind coffee drupe skins and pulps;
• The gastro-intestinal tract does not decompose pits;
• The protein-impacting enzymes in civet digestive systems invade parchment- and silver skin-covered beans, liberate amino acids, and support malting.

The beans’ clean appearances and aromas and the beverages’ comforting aromas and tastes -- particularly as milky espressos -- have biodynamic, organic, and predatory inputs to thank.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

picturesque landscape of Nilgiri Hills: Emerald Lake, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Gudalur town and about 11 miles (17 km) southeast of Udhagamandalam, known as Ooty and nicknamed "Queen of Hill Stations"
Emerald Lake is surrounded by tea plantations, which dot the landscape of Gundalur taluk.
Nilgiris District, western Tamil Nadu, southwestern India: Sankara Subramanian, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emerald_Lake_Nilgiris.jpg; Sankara Subramanian (www.beontheroad.com), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/10208972@N04/3860105606

Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) are native to northern and central India.
The Red Fort of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, north central India: Thomas Schoch (Mosmas), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macaque_India_4.jpg

In addition to Rhesus monkeys, India's mammalian coffee plantation dwellers include Asian common palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), Jerdon’s brown palm civets (Paradoxurus jerdoni) and small Indian civets (Viverricula indica).
"coffee bean processor," Asian common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus): Dean Croshere, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadtrip-life/5641718675/

coffee berries: on the menu for Asian Common Palm Civets and Jerdon's Brown Palm Civets in India's coffee-producing southern state of Tamil Nadu
hill town of Yercaud, Servarayan (Shevaroy) Hills, southern Eastern Ghats, north central Tamil Nadu, southeastern India: Thangaraj Kumaravel (Kumaravel), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kumaravel/8259852159/

Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia): pioneer biodynamicist Rudolf Steiner extolled horsetail for 90% silica content and emphasized that silicious substances play "the greatest imaginable part . . . in this earthly life" (Agriculture Course, p. 23)
Horsetail is included in the herb-enhanced organic compost at Balmadies Estates.
Cambridge Botanic Garden, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia region, South East England: Rror, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Equisetopsida.jpg

Pioneer biodynamicist Rudolf Steiner emphasized the interplays of near and distant elements in "the household of Nature" and credited the warmth of the Earth's atmosphere with effective use of silicious forces emanating from Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.
Lady Life in The Planet Garden, with circle under planets representing the sun: Anders Sandberg (Arenamontanus), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/3406323591/

Coffee was introduced into India by 17th century Sufi saint Baba Budan, who brought coffee beans from Mocha (Arabic: المخا‎ al-Mukhā), southwestern Yemen, to the hills of Chikmagalur in Karnataka state in 1670.
Karnataka and neighboring states Kerala and Tamil Nadu have dominated coffee production in India.
Chikkamagaluru (Chikmagalur), Chikkamagaluru district, southwestern Karnataka state, southwestern India: Prashant Y (prashantby), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/prashantby/11975609215/

"Indian Civet Coffee & Monkey Parchment Coffee": exotic coffees from Araku Valley forests in the Eastern Ghats of India
Indian Civet & Monkey Coffees. "Indian Civet Coffee & Monkey Parchment Coffee." YouTube, May 23, 2016, @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ovqS3j5MgY

Another monkey-themed coffee: Monkey-Spit Coffee, produced in Taiwan, is credited to Formosan rock macaques (Macaca cyclopis), also known as Formosan rock monkeys.
George House Fine Coffee, a coffee shop in Tainan, southern Taiwan, sells Kaapi Monkey.
Taipei Zoo, Taipei City, northern Taiwan: KaurJmeb, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons@ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Formosan_macaque.jpg

Balmadies Estates have coffee plantations in Gudalur Taluk in western Tamil Nadu state's Nilgiris District, which lies within the scenic Nilgiri Hills.
Gudalur, Nilgiris District, western Tamil Nadu, southwestern India: jojiclix, CC BY ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojiclix/244700865/

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