Coffee From Cat Poop? Kopi Luwak - What Is It?

by Lorrie Davids⁽⁶⁹¹⁾ Blue Star

I don't like the flavor of coffee, but I do like the smell…usually. I think I'd pass (pun intended) on even smelling this stuff.

Some coffee shops in the US are selling a new coffee. It is Kopi Luwak and one place the beans are found is, appropriately, Java. The beans are also harvested in Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi, the Philippines and in East Timor.

That part isn't so strange. What is strange is the beans are harvested from the fecal matter of a cat-like animal called a civet. The civet eats the coffee "cherries" and lets nature take its course. Then someone picks through the cat's waste and pulls out the coffee cherry remains - the coffee bean. These beans are then cleaned, roasted, ground and sold for about $800 a pound retail in the US. Because the beans have gone through the cat's digestive process, the proteins that cause coffee to be bitter have been broken down.

Is it healthy? So far, no one has said it isn't. Pregnant women are cautioned not to expose themselves to cat urine, but since this coffee has been roasted, harmful bacteria is said to be destroyed.

Oprah has tried it and it has been ingested by 3 of the 4 docs on the panel of the TV show "The Doctors". If you decide to taste this new gourmet coffee, make sure it is the real thing. At $800 a pound there will surely be some copycats (another bad pun, intended). How do you know it is the real thing? Well, you will just have to take the vendors word for it. I think I will stick with hot chocolate.

Article submitted Tuesday, November 24, 2009 & read 181 times.

Leave your comments through My Pet Tale:

» left by Marijo Phelps⁽¹⁰⁾ (2 years 172 days ago.)

Did you know that a civet cat is a first cousin to Pepe Le Pew? The skunk! When I googled an article came up saying scientists proved SARS spread from civet cat to humans... good grief. You hit another fascinating one, Lorrie. Marijo
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» left by Lorrie Davids⁽⁶⁹¹⁾ (1 year 358 days ago.)

Yeah, who'da thunk it? It doesn't appeal to me, but then, neither does regular coffee. I'd have a hard time getting past...its past as passed. Thanks for commenting and I'm sorry I took so long to respond. See you in a couple months!

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