“Amongst a growing group of coffee connoisseurs, there’s one type of coffee that is particularly famous: and that’s Kopi Luwak, or “civet coffee”. It is known for its high price ($180 per lb) and unconventional production methods: The coffee beans used are found in cat shit.
It all happened by accident. Plantation owners In Indonesia forbade workers from picking coffee beans for their own use, so some began to pick up the beans left behind in “the droppings” of the civet. These were washed, roasted and brewed into the first cup of cat poo coffee. The civet was the species of cat that transferred SARS to humans nearly a decade ago.
By all accounts, it is the smoothest tasting coffee as it lacks the acrid bitter notes that coffee usually has. Enzymes present in the civet’s digestive tract are absorbed by the beans, which in turn transform the proteins responsible for the coffee’s taste. After being defecated, the droppings are washed until clean, the yellow husks are removed, and the beans are lightly roasted.
Enzymes present in the civet’s digestive tract are absorbed by the beans, which in turn transform the proteins responsible for the coffee’s taste. After being defecated, the droppings are washed until clean, the yellow husks are removed, and the beans are lightly roasted.
Next time your drinking a shitty cup of coffee – think – it might just be a very a expensive cat-poo-ccino…
Marc Matsumoto is a food blogger and photographer who spreads his passion for food through his websites norecipes.comand wanderingcook.com.