Kopi Luwak
Kopi Luwak, or civet coffee, is the
most expensive kind of coffee around (more than one dollar per one
gram). It's praised and seeked by many rich and bored gourmets around
the world. The coffeee beans come from civet dung, because civet are
very fond of cofee fruits but the cannot digest the seed. There is much
debate wether the particular flavour of this coffee is due to the
civets choosing only the best (biggest, most ripe) coffee beans around,
or because the beans, after digesting, while being expelled touch the
scent glands which are known to produce a very strong scent (used also
in perfume industry). If you don't believe this story, make a simple
google search for "kopi luwak" or for "civet coffee" and you'll see I'm
not joking. Just as an example an excerpt from an article speaking
about civet coffee is attached hereunder.
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Coffee Anyone?
These
animals are well known for taking advantage of any available farm
crops. They will routinely steal mangos, melons, bananas and palm
juice, which gives them the nickname "toddy cat" from the liquor made
from the palm juice.
In some places they steal coffee beans. Local farmers do not really
consider them pests
even though they are fond of raiding these crops since they only digest
the outer layer of the bean, and the coffee beans can be collected
post-digestive tract. EEEK! In some areas, these specially processed
beans are roasted into a coffee called Kopi luwak (civet coffee) which
can sell for up to $175/pound