If you, like me, have ever walked into a Starbucks and laughed at the prices of their coffees then you would very much split your sides beyond repair if someone slammed you with a bill for $30 for a single cup of coffee, although you might need a sense of humour to drink coffee derived from the processed faeces of a south-east Asian monkey-esque animal.

But there are some that take their coffee seriously enough to spend upwards of $600/pound for the delicacy which has one of the most unusual methods of production. It starts with the beans of coffee berries from the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago and it is eaten by the native Asian Palm Civet. The berries pass through the digestive tract of the Civet and into its stomach where proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans.

Once the beans are excreted, they are gathered, thoroughly washed and dried in the sun before lightly roasted. Apparently this process yields an aromatic coffee without bitterness. Chris Rubin, coffee critic has said, "The aroma is rich and strong, and the coffee is incredibly full bodied, almost syrupy. It's thick with a hint of chocolate, and lingers on the tongue with a long, clean aftertaste."

The ridiculously overpriced poop-coffee sells the most in Japan and the US, a small cafe in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland Australia put the drink on its menu at just over 50 Australian dollars and received national publicity.

Kopi Luwak was first commercially exported out of south-east Asia in the mid 1980s but was not made popular until the 2007 film 'The Bucket List'. In the film, arrogant multi-millionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) adored the beans claiming it was the "best coffee in the world". Later in the film Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) reveals to Nicholson how the coffee is made, to which they both share in the amusement.

Today's fast food society has coffee on-the-go in hot paper cups or vending cups. But Kopi Luwak is served in a small delicate porcelain cup from a brass decanter, all to add to the experience I guess.

Posted under Tea