A Coffee For When You Feel Like Crap

Written by Cynthia Wood on 11 January 2006

palm civet 2 Coffee connoisseurs are known to be willing to shell out large sums of money for a high-quality bean. The high-end beans, such as Kona or Blue Mountain, are known to go for extraordinary sums of money. Then there is Kopi Lowak, reputed to be the most expensive coffee in the world. While price can vary, Kopi Lowak (which translates as “Civet coffee”) can sell for as much as $50 per quarter-pound.

This isn’t particularly surprising, given that approximately 500 pounds a year of Kopi Lowak constitutes the entire world supply.

What is surprising is why this particular coffee is so rare. It’s not the plants that are rare. It’s the civet droppings. That’s right, the civet droppings. Coffee beans aren’t Kopi Lowak until they’ve been passed through the digestive tract of paradoxurus hermaphroditus, otherwise known as the palm civet.

Palm civets are nocturnal, tree-dwelling raccoon-like little critters, native to SE Asia and the Indonesian islands. They also have a love of coffee cherries. They eat the fruit whole, but only digest the outer fruit, leaving the bean intact. Suppliers of Kopi Lowak opine that while the beans have not been destroyed, or even visibly changed, they have undergone a transformation while in the civet’s digestive tract. Regardless of whether the digestive enzymes have wrought some changes in the beans, or whether it’s the unfailing instinct that palm civets have for coffee cherries at the peak of ripeness, the beans retrieved from civet droppings have a unique flavor all their own.

Right now most of the world’s supply is sold in Japan, though a very few US markets are starting to stock it. It’s strictly limited availability would virtually guarantee a high price, even if the coffee were unremarkable. As it is, Kopi Lowak is reported to have a character unlike any other coffee, complex with caramel undertones and an earthy or gamey flavor.

So, if you want a cup of coffee, and feel like crap, here’s the cup for you.


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#1 Random Dent 11 January 2006 at 08:40 am

Why does it seem as though so many things that are gourmet cuisine are actually quite disgusting, I wonder? Fish eggs, anyone?

Perhaps it’s a game of one-upmanship, Fear Factor-wise, amongst the rich.

#2 c0sbysweater 11 January 2006 at 09:58 am

Don’t forget Truffles; Strange golfball sized fungi that grow 2 to 15 inches underground, the spores of which are often accompanied or transported by with some sort of livestock dung. Going rate? $250 to 450 a pound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle

#3 beanaroo 11 January 2006 at 11:16 am

Who is it that decides to first try this type of stuff? I mean who was the person who was going through poop and though “I bet those coffee beans are still good”? I just don’t understand how some of this stuff first gets discovered.

#4 Bucky 11 January 2006 at 01:30 pm

Dave Barry has a classic write-up of this type of coffee; it’s a great read.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/291312p-249394c.html

#5 Josh Harding 11 January 2006 at 02:14 pm

Random Dent said: “Why does it seem as though so many things that are gourmet cuisine are actually quite disgusting, I wonder? Fish eggs, anyone?

Actually caviar is quite good. Best with some butter on some nice fresh bread. MMMMMM……

beanaroo said: “Who is it that decides to first try this type of stuff? I mean who was the person who was going through poop and though “I bet those coffee beans are still good”? I just don’t understand how some of this stuff first gets discovered.”

Yah like the the psychodelic frogs and the poison frogs. Who decided to lick one of those.

#6 Cynthia Wood 11 January 2006 at 02:44 pm

I’ve always wondered about some of the foods with more involved preparation to even make them edible. I mean who says, “Hey, look at those seed pods! I bet if we boil them, dry them, and then bury them under leaves and let them rot for a couple of weeks, they’ll taste really good!” (Vanilla)

Apparently the Kopi Lowak started just as an attempt to rescue beans. The beans were collected from the civet piles, and just tossed back in to the general coffee supply. Then someone, somewhere, discovered that they did well on their own, and could be marketed that way…

#7 Arcangel 11 January 2006 at 03:02 pm

So now when I see someone drinking coffee and they say it tastes like sh** I will know exactly what they are talking about being that I am not a coffee drinker myself. Now I know why I don’t drink it.

#8 Jono 11 January 2006 at 03:59 pm

Has anyone else notice the civet’s scientific name?

paradoxurus hermaphroditus

Are they hermaphrodites? I’ve never heard of a hermaphroditic mammal before. (For the uninitiated, hermaphrodites can “go both ways,” if you dig what I’m layin’ down.)

#9 Taerlin 11 January 2006 at 06:11 pm

Regarding the paradoxurus hermaphroditus. I noticed that, as well, Jono. Here is what I discovered via Google:

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/common_palm_civet.htm

Both sexes have well-developed anal scent glands looking somewhat like testes, which gives the musang its Species name.

#10 dassman 12 January 2006 at 02:37 am

Josh Harding said: “Actually caviar is quite good. Best with some butter on some nice fresh bread. MMMMMM……

I think Caviar is at it’s best when you eat it with blinis or on toasted bread, a little russian sour cream (smetana) on it and some chopped onion…
Personally I prefer fish eggs of vendace (

#11 Josh Harding 13 January 2006 at 02:01 pm

dassman said: ” I think Caviar is at it’s best when you eat it with blinis or on toasted bread, a little russian sour cream (smetana) on it and some chopped onion…
Personally I prefer fish eggs of vendace”

I’m sorry, I cannot bring myself to agree. I am a purist. If it isn’t good enough plain, then no amount of smetana s lukom is going to help. Actually, if you can’t eat it plain, then don’t start experimenting.

#12 JustAnotherName 14 January 2006 at 06:14 am

From a true coffee lover and a Starbucks fan, I say “STOP THE MADNESS!”

#13 wh44 15 January 2006 at 01:56 pm

Actually, if you can’t eat it plain, then don’t start experimenting.

Excuse me, but in that case we probably wouldn’t have coffee at all. Or do you like plain coffee beans?

#14 Rianousuke 27 January 2006 at 04:42 pm

As seen in Austin Powers 2. . . .

#15 >I deserve 09 February 2006 at 07:17 pm

The “original” poo bean picker had waaay too much time on his hands! (among other things – on his um – hands) Eeeeww !!- (like Paris Hilton valley girl style dingbat)

#16 me09 05 July 2006 at 06:48 pm

Great. Now we can ask for our coffee poopy or un-pooped. Can I keep one of those little animals at home? Ill be wanting a personal one.

#17 scamp 24 October 2006 at 01:15 pm

Haha!

I knew that!

But I dont drink coffee.

#18 LoveTheOnesYouNeed 25 October 2006 at 12:46 pm

I can imagine it now “Hey man I dare you to drink/eat this” or “I got a really funny idea for a joke”. Anyone who is eating or drinking something like this has to convince themselves that it’s good so that they can justify spending money on it. People with money rarely have anything constructive to do and if they want to drink this poop coffe and eat fish eggs I say let them…at least they’ll be doing something entertaing to me.

#19 Tink 12 November 2006 at 03:53 pm

Cynthia Wood said: “I’ve always wondered about some of the foods with more involved preparation to even make them edible. I mean who says, “Hey, look at those seed pods! I bet if we boil them, dry them, and then bury them under leaves and let them rot for a couple of weeks, they’ll taste really good!” (Vanilla)

…”

Yeah, You gotta wonder who first saw a “rock” fall out of a chickens ass and thought, THAT might taste good and be nutritious! LOL

#20 campo 10 December 2006 at 03:32 am

Yea.. I wonder who the 1st person was to grab a cow by the utters and milk it dry. Then take a swag.

But brewing rectum-flavored coffee beans??

I wonder how much cheap liquor made that seem like a good idea..

#21 Farmer Gary 21 October 2008 at 10:07 pm

As a Kona coffee farmer (http://www.KonaEarth.com) I have two comments about this article:

1) The high-end beans, such as Kona or Blue Mountain, are known to go for extraordinary sums of money.
I sell half pound bags of 100% Kona coffee for $14. That makes approximately 15 to 20 cups of coffee which comes out to less that $1 per cup. Not so bad compared to Starbucks.

2) Kopi Luwak beans are not “visibly changed”
Actually, they look radically different. Unroasted coffee is called green coffee because the beans have a greenish tint (assuming they’ve been dried correctly). Unroasted Kopi Luwak beans are a nasty brown color. I throw out beans that look like that because even just a couple of them can taint the entire batch.

But everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Personally, I prefer to avoid animal excrement and any beans that may be hidden in it.

#22 Vrolock 22 May 2009 at 06:08 pm

This was also mentioned in the movie “The Bucket List” I thought that it was a joke at first, but it seems that I was wrong.

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A Coffee For When You Feel Like Crap