Never Say Never: Kopi Luwak (Most expensive coffee in the world)

This deserves a post of its own, as I find it fascinating! There is a lot of controversy surrounding the way this coffee is produced, but none-the-less, it still has an interesting story.

The Luwak animal (also called Civet) eats a red berry, coffee cherry, for the fleshy bean pulp. Inside its body the berry goes through a fermentation process. The animal then poops and the berries/beans come out whole. The beans are then gathered, washed and skinned, then roasted and ground. This coffee can cost from $30-100 A CUP in the United States and other countries. One kilo can cost upwards of $500 in some parts of the world. It is supposed to be one of the finest coffees, with hints of caramel and chocolate.

Animals are sadly kept in cages so the berries can be readily and easily retrieved. In one of the tours we were on, they said the Luwaks were released into the wild after 4-6 months and new ones are contained. That said, it's still cruelty to animals and I'm certainly not advocating that. Just delivering a coffee story that I find interesting. Being that I don't really like my coffee to taste like coffee, the flavor wasn't impressive to me. I did buy enough for a cup so that my mom and mother-in-law could try. As black coffee drinkers, they can give the final say! :)