$100 Cup of Joe

[SubChop]

Any coffee fanatics in the group? From today's news - enjoy ;-)

Brits pay $100 for a cup of coffee made from dung

Britons are being encouraged to spend £50 -- about $100 -- for a cup of coffee that is made from animal dung.

The barista says Caffe Raro is a complex and costly blend of coffee that includes rare Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kopi Luwak beans. What makes this beverage truly unique is the fact that Kopi Luwak beans come from the droppings of civets, a cat-like animal.

The Associated Press described the process back in 2004: Civets live in the foliage of plantations across Southeast Asia. These fussy foragers pick the best and ripest coffee berries. Enzymes in their digestive system break down the flesh of the fruit before the animals expel the bean. Workers collect beans from the plantation floor, wash away the dung and roast them to produce a unique drink that devotees might say is good to the last dropping. (You can see the civet in action thanks to ABC News.)

The roast is now being served in the espresso bar at Peter Jones, a London department store, with the proceeds going to a cancer charity. BBC News says this blend is thought to be the most expensive in the world.

[Mel]

I love coffee and roast my own green beans but I'll be damned if I'll pay $100 for a cup of ****.

[Colt45]

» I love coffee and roast my own green beans but I'll be damned if I'll pay

» $100 for a cup of ****.

Bags his own game, roasts his own coffee, master of the oral sciences......

You, my friend, are a true renaissance man.

[the dane]

being a huge a coffee geek, I too roast my own green beans.

I have had some kopi Luwak, and it truly is a great cup of coffee. low in acidity and medium bodied, but too mild for me. I paid around 50 bux for around half a pound.

IMHO If you're a coffee geek its a must try along side with Kona and blue mountain, but there is still a lot of other coffees out there that I prefer on a daily basis:-)

[Fatshotbud]

» I love coffee and roast my own green beans but I'll be damned if I'll pay

» $100 for a cup of ****.

I have eaten mushrooms growing from cow turds but never pooped out beans - I am open minded so would say "what the **** I'll try a cup"

[Ken Gargett]

guys, this stuff has been around for ages, though a lot think it one of the urban myths.

i remember doing an article on just this 'style' of coffee ten years ago from some highly sought-after monkey droppings on one of the small islands of indonesia, not that i ever tried any.

it just might be a load of crap.

[Ken Gargett]

or possibly not. from the urban legends website -

Dear Reader:

I had my doubts until I learned that University of Guelph food scientist Massimo Marcone actually trekked to Indonesia a few years back to collect samples of kopi luwak beans with his own two hands, supplying independent confirmation that this rare and exceedingly expensive varietal coffee really exists. Marcone figures almost half the beans marketed under the name "kopi luwak" are either adulterated or fake, however, so buyer beware.

"The secret of this delicious blend," enthuses the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board, "lies in the bean selection, which is performed by a luwak, a species of civet cat endemic to Java.

The luwak will eat only the choicest, most perfectly matured beans which it then excretes, partially digested, a few hours later. Plantation workers then retrieve the beans from the ground, ready for immediate roasting."

To be precise, the so-called "civet cat" -- more properly known as the palm civet -- isn't really a cat at all, but rather a distant cousin of the mongoose. Native to southeast Asia and Indonesia, the palm civet subsists entirely on fruit -- in particular the fleshy, red cherry of the coffee tree, which grows abundantly in those parts of the world.

Kopi luwak asking price: $600 per pound

Kopi luwak began showing up in North America during the 1990s at the height of the Starbucks-inspired gourmet coffee craze. It has been sold in the U.S. for up to $600 per pound and can fetch as much as $30 for a single brewed cup in some parts of the world. Coffee connoiseur Chris Rubin explains what makes kopi luwak worth the exorbitant price:

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. It's definitely one of the most interesting and unusual cups I've ever had. Indonesia isn't the sole producer of civet-processed coffee, by the way. In Vietnam, aficionados hanker after the exceedingly rare caphe cut chon ("fox dung coffee," so named because civets resemble foxes to the Vietnamese), which is harvested in precisely the same manner as kopi luwak.

Cream? Sugar? Gas mask?

As you have no doubt surmised, the unique taste and aroma of these coffees are routinely attributed to the fact that the beans have been chemically modified by the acids and enzymes in the animal's digestive tract before they're excreted and harvested. Less frequently observed but more to the point, in my opinion, is a characteristic of all members of the civet family which surely influences the fragrance of the beans: "anal scent glands that secrete a fluid with a musky odor" (American Heritage Dictionary).

I'll take mine with cream, sugar, and a gas mask, please.

[CIGARHead]

» » I love coffee and roast my own green beans but I'll be damned if I'll

» pay

» » $100 for a cup of ****.

»

» Bags his own game, roasts his own coffee, master of the oral

» sciences......

» You, my friend, are a true renaissance man.

You forgot that he is a master in 3 languages. English, Spanish and Southern Slang.

[Guest robustog]

I have had the pleasure of drinking this coffee.

I was gifted enough to make a few cups which my family and I enjoyed on Christmas morning of 2007.

My wife and I drink a lot of coffee, we make mostly espresso.

We found this to be excellent, straight up, no sugar or cream.

[zuma]

I love coffee but, as a matter of principle, I refuse to drink/eat sh*t regardless of the flavouring...

Mind you, you could do your own at home: eat some coffee beans and, after a few hours, Voila! you'd have your own personal coffee Luwak ... you even get to choose whether you'd like it based on Kona, Blue Mountain, Santos or Ethiopian Peaberry (or given them a multiple "pass" through your system)...

[the dane]

One of the reasons why this coffee is special (part from having passed through a live animal) Is that this cat like creature is extremely picky and only eats the coffee berries when they are perfectly right and ripe.

[MaltPointer]

next thing you know, they'll be making soup out of bird snot . . .

[Colt45]

» next thing you know, they'll be making soup out of bird snot . . .

or a sweet viscous fluid from bee regurgitation.

[mkz]

» or a sweet viscous fluid from bee regurgitation.

or unborn fishbabies from somewhere in Russia or Iran...

[pnutbutrsangwich]

» I refuse to drink/eat sh*t regardless of the flavouring...

The question, now, is whether this is **** flavored coffee or coffee flavored ****! :-D

[Guest robustog]

» » I refuse to drink/eat sh*t regardless of the flavouring...

»

» The question, now, is whether this is **** flavored coffee or coffee

» flavored ****! :-D

You guys kill me.

Go read this http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html

or these

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...752C0A96E948260

http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southd...s/17390024.html

It can go on and on.

Do you really think the eating out where there is rat, mouse and insect infested food and off plates, silverware and glases where people are picking their noses, scratching there asses and crotches, sneezing and coughing is any better.

Or eating food from factories where the same conditions above exist. Did you ever read about trucks that haul garbage in one direction and backhaul fruits and vegetables, or milk one way and toxic chemicals the other without cleaning the trucks>

Believe me, you have devoured much worse things than this coffee.;-)

[AsetOne]

» next thing you know, they'll be making soup out of bird snot . . .

yup. birds nest soup...MMM-MMM

[Guest robustog]

» next thing you know, they'll be making soup out of bird snot . . .

Authentic bird's nest soup is made using the nests of the swiftlet, a tiny bird found throughout southeast Asia. The swiftlet lives in dark caves, using a method of echolocation similar to the bat to get around. Instead of twigs and straw, the swiftlet makes its nest from strands of its own gummy saliva, which hardens when exposed to air. Humans who harvest the swiftlet nests often come from families that have made their living this way for generations. Prying the nests from the cave walls is extremely dangerous, and many harvesters die each year.

Once the nests are harvested, they are cleaned and sold to restaurants, where they are served simmered in chicken broth. While I have never tried authentic bird's nest soup, apparently it is an acquired taste - many westerners think it tastes quite rubbery the first time they try it. However it is quite popular throughout Asia, perhaps because it has the reputation of being an aphrodisiac. It is also costly; many western restaurants serve a less expensive version consisting of soup with noodles shaped to resemble a bird's nest.

:-D :-D

[mkz]

Here we have the "magic" beans...

And here´s the "producer"...

[AsetOne]

» Here we have the "magic" beans...

»

»

»

erm......no thanks.....

i like coffee, but there is no way i would drink that for free...let alone the extortionist prices being asked for the 'pleasure'

James