Kopi Luwak—”Monkey Coffee”
Perhaps you’ve already heard about this stuff. It’s such a far-fetched story as to sound implausible, but the truth is, the Kopi Luwak beans are harvested from the droppings of the Asian Palm Civet, a small Indonesian marsupial. The beans cost a small fortune (upwards of $100 a pound on ebay) because they are so rare–only about 500 pounds a year are typically “harvested.” Apparently, though (not that I’ve ever tried the stuff, though if I had the chance, I would), the coffee is outstanding. Either that or it’s a big practical joke to make people drink feces and love it. If you’d like to see a picture of what the beans look like when they come out of the Palm Civet, check out this page.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Did I read your post correctly: you’d drink monkey poo just because other people drank monkey poo?
September 19th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
That’s the way I read it!
September 19th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
The Vietnamese have “weasel coffee”. In the Raleigh, NC area, you can find it on the menu at the Lotus Leaf Cafe. But this is just too weird for me … I’ll be sticking with Tanzanian Peaberry.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Is the “weasel coffee” expensive? I’ve heard that Kopi Luwak goes for $5 a cup or more (in fact, that info comes from the link above).
And it’s not monkey poo, it’s Asian Palm Civet poo. Huge difference (ha!) but yes, I’d drink it. Not because everyone else is doing it, but because as a culinarian and a writer, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try what is apparently a delicacy. It’s similar to when I ate duck brains and eyeballs when I was in China… when else would I have a chance to try that again? Or on a slightly more modest scale, the first time I was faced with the concept of eating a raw oyster, I was a bit hesitant to do so, but now I love those slimy bivalves and eat them almost every chance I get (assuming the month has an r in it).
September 20th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Your Mother-in-Law tried boiled cicadas while in China….actually, they were nicely seasoned and very tasty. I was, however, not fond of the sea cucumbers which are considered a delicacy. I think we tried everything we were offered at least once…..that was our goal. We definitely did not go hungry.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:31 pm
But brains, eyeballs, oysters (mmm), and cicadas are not excrement.
Oh well: monkey see, monkey do(o).
September 21st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I am also skeptical of this, but it comes up so often lately that it may be legitimate.
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:21 am
I’ve heard of this before, and the drink contains no poo . . . the beans are taken from the poo and washed before brewing, at least that is how I always understood it. Supposedly the digestion process that takes place in the monkey’s stomach gives the bean some kind of better taste.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:46 am
jwsharrard: A cup of freshly brewed weasel coffee will run you $7 at Lotus Leaf. http://www.lotusleafcafe.com/
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
There is a segment on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern about Vietnamese cuisine in which he partakes of “Civet Coffee” and, yes indeed, the undigested beans are harvested out of the feces of this mongoose like animal. He comments the coffee is fabulous with a long finishing note and a smokey almost peaty flavor.
http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bizarre-foods/destinations/vietnam.html
January 11th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Thanks for the information, I have been trying to find sellers of Kopi Luwak online, but could not find any, would appreciate if someone could help. Here are additional facts I learned about kopi luwak.
http://www.roysencio.com/kopi-luwak-coffee-with-a-twist/