........................ cat poo. Yes, you heard me. I watched this segment on the telly the other day and was shocked. Sells for about $600 per pound or something ridiculous.
Yes, from this:
(//vny!://www.lifeaftercoffee.com/wp-content/upload/palm_civet.jpg) to this (//vny!://www.indonesiangrocery.com/foto_31.jpg)
[FONT face=Arial size=2]The Truth:[/FONT][FONT color=#000080]
[FONT size=2][FONT face=Arial]Kopi Luwak does exist, is very expensive, and is made from coffee beans passed through the digestive system of an Indonesian animal, but it's more like a cat than a monkey. According to a feature article by the Manila Coffee House, which sells the stuff, the people who harvest the digested beans don't really have to pick through cat litter to get it. The animal processes the beans and excretes them whole, unscratched, and without dung.
The animal is a palm civet, a dark brown tree-dwelling cat-like creature found throughout Southeast Asia. The scientific name is paradoxurus hermaphroditus.
According to the Manila Coffee House, the palm civet just happens to like to ingest the ripest and reddest coffee beans, which also happen to be the ones best for brewing. The cat eats the outer covering of the beans in the same way that is accomplished by de-pulping machines. Something happens to the beans in the journey through the cat's intestines that gives it a flavor that is celebrated by coffee drinkers.
At this point, most of the beans are purchased by Japanese buyers.[/FONT]
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[FONT color=#000080][FONT size=2]Read more: [A href="vny!://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/k/kopiluwak.htm"]vny!://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/k/kopiluwak.htm[/A][/FONT][/FONT][!--mstheme--][!--msthemelist--]
Yeah, I found out about this when I was in china believe it or not. The hotel I was living in catered mainly to Japanese businessmen taking the weekend off and flying into where I was to stay in that hotel for a weekend of partying and... Golf. Yep, the hotel I was in had three driving ranges in it with a miniature golf as well. So yeah, what I was getting to is they had that there.
It seems to be a delicacies amongst the Chinese and Japanese. As for me, you couldn't get me to drink that stuff for all the money in the world.... OK, I'll do for $50.00.
i heard about this last year sometime. i think urban fare has them if i am not mistaken. while you are there, pick up a square watermelon.
First, it's not poo. As the article says, "The animal processes the beans and excretes them whole, unscratched, and without dung." I concede however that it's still somewhat distasteful.
Second, it's not from just any cat. If you ask your cat to do it, it won't work. The civet cat, as it happens, is an animal which is the purveyor of a most valued smelly product which is used for making very expensive perfumes.
"the palm civet just happens to like to ingest the ripest and reddest coffee beans, which also happen to be the ones best for brewing. The cat eats the outer covering of the beans in the same way that is accomplished by de-pulping machines. Something happens to the beans in the journey through the cat's intestines that gives it a flavor that is celebrated by coffee drinkers."
As the glands producing the excretion are situated next to the animal's anus, I can imagine something "happening to the beans in the journeys through the cat's intestines"...
Yum! I've always wanted to drink a byproduct of something that's been excreted through an exotic mammal's anus! (//forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/14.gif)