World's most expensive coffee harvested from animal poop! Get a fine crappucino at Starbucks!

[Better Believe It]

Poop-coffee war pits purists vs. producers
Producers breed civets to harvest beans from dung; experts cry foul
By Olivia Rondonuwu
August 26, 2010

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Lovers of the world's most expensive coffee, found half-digested in the dung of the wild civet, fear that its unique taste may be spoiled by planned farming of the animals.

Collectors hunt for the coffee cherries in the droppings of civets in Indonesian plantations to make a brew enriched by the bushy-tailed, cat-like animal's stomach that sells for as much as $770 a kg in London.

But as demand rises, producers have spotted an opportunity to increase supply by breeding the civets in cages and feeding them the coffee cherries. Production has started on a small scale.

Experts say the flavor relies on the civet's finicky feeding habits and varied diet to create the enzymes that enrich fermentation of the beans, so caged animals would produce a different coffee.

Perkebunan Nusantara XII sells the civet coffee for $130 a kg from factories or $250 a kg in cafes on Indonesia's main island of Java, though the price multiplies as exports reach countries such as Korea, Japan, Italy and the United States.

"It's far tastier than any other coffee," said the firm's Danu Rianto. "To maintain high standards we have a standard operating procedure."

The coffee does not appeal to everyone. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took some as a gift on a visit to former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, only to find local media dubb it "crappucino".



A palm civet eats Arabica coffee cherries in a coffee plantation owned by state plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara XII, in Situbondo in Indonesia's East Java province.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38865765/?gt1=43001

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Heard about this on some TV show a while back.

Guess when you have so much damn money you just do not know what to do with it..this is what you spend it on..

It brings to mind the story of the Emperor's New Clothes...
This is such a crock of crapola..and so many rich people are falling for it!!!!

[Dawson Leery]

2. Starbucks is overpriced garbage.

[Better Believe It]

But they triple the poops in every cup!

[old mark]

10. We got a Starbucks coffee gift basket last Christmas - the coffee was pretty bad,

bland and weak. And both the mugs broke.
We get the old standby 8 O'Clock beans and grind our own...it's still the best domestic coffee IMO.

mark

[arbusto_baboso]

3. There's also a Danish brewer named Mikkeller that uses this coffee in their stout.

Their normal Imperial Stout is called Beer Geek Breakfast. The version with the civet-excreted coffee is called Beer Geek Breakfast (Weasel Poop).

I wish I were kidding.

[pinboy3niner]

4. And their advertising theme song is "Poop Goes the Weasel"?

:evilgrin:

[arbusto_baboso]

5. Yes. To be served with Poop Tarts.

:hi:

[Buns_of_Fire]

6. "If you nail together two things that have never been nailed together before,

some fool will buy it from you." -- George Carlin (It's amazing how much of what he said has found relevance in the last few days!)

[Better Believe It]

7. Islamic religious leaders in Indonesia no longer ban this coffee for Muslims. Holy Crap!

"But now that Indonesia's highest Islamic authority has certified the brew as no longer "haram", or banned for Muslims, in the world's most populous Muslim nation — so long as the beans are well washed — producers, including Perkebunan Nusantara XII, are eyeing a bigger market."

[HopeHoops]

8. I thought EVERYTHING from $tarbuck$ was crap. Expensive crap, but still crap.

[peekaloo]

9. No foam, please.

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[Better Believe It]

11. If you're on a cruise ship you can order it on the poop deck!