I found this on another thread.
Posted on 12/31/2005 8:44:22 AM PST by JustAnotherOkie
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Would you pay $175 for a pound of coffee beans which had passed through the backside of a furry mammal in Indonesia?
Apparently, some coffee lovers wanting to treat themselves to something special are lapping it up.
Kopi Luwak beans from Indonesia are rare and expensive, thanks to a unique taste and aroma enhanced by the digestive system of palm civets, nocturnal tree-climbing creatures about the size of a large house cat.
"People like coffee. And when they want to treat themselves, they order the Kopi Luwak," said Isaac Jones, director of sales for Tastes of The World, an online supplier of gourmet coffee, tea and cocoa.
Despite being carnivorous, civets eat ripe coffee cherries for treats. The coffee beans, which are found inside of the cherries, remain intact after passing through the animal.
Civet droppings are found on the forest floor near coffee plantations. Once carefully cleaned and roasted, the beans are sold to specialty buyers.
Jones said sales for Kopi Luwak rose three-fold just before the Christmas holiday compared with the first half of the year. The company started selling the rare coffee in February 2005.
He expects to sell around 200 pounds of the coffee this year, with orders coming from North America and Europe. So far, most of the orders have been from California.
Indonesia produces only about 500 kilograms, or roughly 1,100 pounds, of the coffee each year, making it extremely expensive and difficult to find.
"It's the most expensive coffee that we know about in the world," said Jones.
By comparison Jamaica's Blue Mountain coffee, considered to be an expensive type, sells for $35 to $40 per pound, while a pound of Colombia's Supremo arabicas can be bought for about $14.
So far, most of the orders have been from California...figures.
Didn't it get a 'product placement' in Brokeback Mountain.
I think Ill stick to my Starbucks Christmas Blend..
I bet it was from the Bay area or Marin County, and it does figure!!!
Good colombian (green) coffee sells for about $105 per quintal (100 lbs)
What a ripoff!
Besides, most of the gourmet coffees are french toast so they taste like burned wood. What's happening to the good ol' american roast?
Happy New Year Everybody!
This coffee tastes like s--t 120 Replies
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Pricey coffee good to the last dropping 17 Replies
No thanks.
no, but more relevant would the people of Reuters smoke a cigar given to them from a former President?
Doogle
When I was living in Hawaii I was hooked on Kona Coffee – 100% Hawaiian Kona Coffee. Now all I can find in Virginia is a Kona/arabica blend.
I thought it was something in their water that made them so damn STUPID!
I'm amazed that PETA hasn't protested this obvious exploitation of worker animals!!!
$175 a pound for coffee? That's price gouging. I demand an investigation.
I love Kona coffee. My sister brought some 100% back from Hawaii for me and it was wonderful. You can get it, but it is pricey. Check out ebay.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549587/posts
Posted by Kimmers
On News/Activism 12/30/2005 4:58:10 PM PST · 17 replies · 500+ views
"civets eat ripe coffee cherries for treats. The coffee beans, which are found inside of the cherries, remain intact after passing through the animal"
Ewe!
That really sounds appetizing.
Not much different than pork, half of a pigs diet is excrement (shite).
I found this on another thread.
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