Thinking about drinking coffee which beans retrieved from feces may sound awful, but but your perspective may change if you know that poop coffee is actually the worlds most expensive coffee.
Yes, were talking about the famous Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee) that can be easily found in coffee shops in Indonesia. The price per cup of pure civet coffee is around USD 35 to USD 100 (Rp 467,000 to Rp 1,3 million) compare that to the price of regular latte sold in major coffee-shop chains.
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Do you know why the coffee is so expensive?
(AFP Photo/ Noel Celis) - The main reason of the high price of Kopi Luwak is its uncommon production process. Scarcity and high level of difficulty to collect these beans make the price to be very high. The other reason is its taste — good and like no other coffee.
(Brilio/Retno Wulandari) - Coffee beans are commonly obtained from cherry-like fruits of coffee plants, separated from the flesh with the dry or wet method, fermented, dried, milled, roasted, ground, and brewed before one is able to drink the beverage.
(AFP Photo/Sonny Tumbelaka) - The secret is this animal. What makes Kopi Luwak tastes so good is that the civets only pick the best, ripest coffee cherries to be eaten, and never touch low-quality ones. So coffee beans coveted from civets’ feces are actually the best of the breed.
(Brilio/Retno Wulandari) - When civets digest coffee cherries, there’s some kind of unique fermentation process happening with the beans, and this process gives Kopi Luwak its special flavor and aroma. After roughly 24 hours, the civet defecated the coffee beans. They’re then collected by farmers and processed into grind-ready coffee beans.
(AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad) - Kopi Luwak is served like any other coffee. You can brew it as usual, but avoid using milk, sugar, or cream to preserve its original taste.
(Brilio/Retno Wulandari) - In Bali, there are several places where you can try a cup of this expensive beverage. One of them is Bali Pulina in Tegallalang, a place where you can see coffee-making process and taste many kinds of Balinese coffee and other traditional beverages.
(Brilio/Retno Wulandari) - Upon arrival, they will serve a generous sampling of different kind of herb tea, coffee, and chocolate beverages. You can also buy a full size of those beverages in the store.
(Brilio/Retno Wulandari) - Among the most favorite beverage samples is the lemongrass tea, which is refreshing and calming with its zesty flavor with a hint of ginger. But to try a cup of Kopi Luwak, you have to pay for it. In the photo is the exotic nature around Bali Pulina.
(Brilio/Retno Wulandari) - But you need to be cautious when buying Kopi Luwak. Most products sold in stores are 70 percent Kopi Luwak, while the pure 100 percent Kopi Luwak is harder to find and sold in much more expensive price. In the photo is a corner in Bali Pulina where you can enjoy a cup of refreshing coffee.
(AFP Photo/ Noel Celis) - There’s another issue regarding Kopi Luwak —the animals’ welfare. Civets are usually caged but they’re actuallu solitary wild animals that can’t stand the cage. When caged, they’re prone to mental distress and other illness. Due to high demand of Kopi Luwak, many uneducated farmers often commit this cruel practice.
(AFP Photo/Sonny Tumbelaka) - Kopi Luwak coffee beans originally found in the wild, defecated by wild civets. That’s why the price is high because it needs extra effort to find the scarce coffee beans hidden on the floor of coffee plantations.