I Love Coffee, BUT.....

OK, I may not be a specialist of coffee, but I enjoy a "Cup of Joe" pretty frequently. I adore Starbucks and other coffee shops. I enjoy watching the baristas make my bitter espresso with LOTS of cream, sugars, flavored syrups... and the dollop of whipped cream on top (but only if I sweat on the elliptical for an hour). I appreciate the aroma, the way it warms your throat as you drink it, and the conversation that seems to come naturally while sipping out of your favorite coffee cup. HOWEVER, I recently heard about THIS, and I have to say that if the last cup of coffee on Earth was made this way... I would have to just be caffeine deprived. YUCK! Here is the description about this type of coffee taken from Wikipedia.... read and try NOT to throw up.

Kopi Luwak (pronounced [ˈkopi ˈluwak]) or Civet coffee is coffee made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The civets eat the berries, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested. This process takes place on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Philippines (where the product is called Motit Coffee in the Cordillera, or Kape Alamid in Tagalog areas) and in East Timor (locally called kafé-laku). Vietnam has a similar type of coffee, called weasel coffee, which is made from coffee berries which have been regurgitated by local weasels. In actuality this alleged weasel is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet. The raw, red coffee berries are part of its normal diet, along with insects, small mammals, small reptiles, eggs and nestlings of birds, and other fruit. The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it has been proposed that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are defecated, still covered in some inner layers of the berry. The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process. Some sources claim that the beans may be regurgitated instead of defecated.

Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $100 and $600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and the United States. It is increasingly becoming available elsewhere, though supplies are limited; only 1,000 pounds (450 kg) at most make it into the world market each year.[1] One small cafe, the Heritage Tea Rooms, in the hills outside Townsville in Queensland, Australia, has Kopi Luwak coffee on the menu at A$50.00 (=US$33.00) per cup, selling approximately four cups a week, which has gained nationwide Australian press.[2] In April 2008, the brasserie of Peter Jones department store in London's Sloane Square started selling a blend of Kopi Luwak peanut and Blue Mountain called Caffe Raro for £50 (=US$99.00) a cup.[3] It has also recently become available at Selfridges, London, as part of their "Edible" range of exotic foods and beverages. It is also available in Toronto, Canada, at Coffeeholic: Handdrip Roastery in the upper Forest Hill village on Eglinton Avenue West.

It's from POOP folks... and people are buying it, for LOTS of money. Can you imagine being the person who thought to himself "Hmm, because this looks like a coffee bean, I bet you can make coffee out of it." And can you imagine the person's reaction as he offered the 1st taste test?... Two words people... NO WAY. I'll stick with my Folgers thanks.