While enjoying a cup of coffee this morning, Chris made a comment about it being the best tasting coffee that he’s had since his last hit of Starbucks in Phoenix. He’s been drinking this new brand of coffee for the past week, and it’s almost gone, so he asked me to add it to my grocery list. Before I responded, he saw a faint cringe cross my face; naturally, he asked me what was wrong. I told him that the 100g bag of coffee, at its regular price, cost 200,000 rupiah, or about US$90 per pound.

Chris looked stumped for a few seconds, trying to figure out why it was so expensive. Then this immediate look of confusion and unsettling speculation took over his face. He picked up his cell phone and Googled the name of the coffee, “Luwak Kopi.” His suspicions were confirmed when he looked at the search results and saw the words “civet coffee” in the Wikipedia link. Chris remembered back to a CNN story that he saw several years ago about the world’s most expensive coffee – civet coffee – which is made from the beans of coffee berries that are eaten and then defecated by Asian palm civets (cat-like animals).

Chris bought new, non-fecal, coffee today. For additional reading on civet coffee, click on this link, Wikipedia, Kopi Luwak.

Chris’s cup of coffee.