Believe it or not, the world's most expensive coffee does not come from Brazil, but from south Asia. It is called kopi luwak, also referred to as the specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, and sells for about $3,000 per kg.
What is interesting is that people relish kopi luwak even after knowing that it is brewed from coffee beans that are swallowed and excreted by a cat-like creature called civets. Wild civets are small mammals whose appearance is similar to that a cross between cats and weasels, Grub Street reported.
While this may seem to be repelling to many and they would prefer to stay away from this boutique coffee, a cup of this special coffee sells for about $100 in New York and London! It is also marketed as weasel, fox or cat-poop coffee and has been labeled as the costliest coffee in the world.
Unfortunately for animal lovers and wildlife conservationists, as kopi luwak is gaining in popularity, it is calling for the capture of an increased number of civets from their natural habitats in Asia. This has led Wildlife Alliance, a conservation group working in alliance with Cambodian officials to reduce civet poaching, to launch a campaign to remind people of the moral reasons for avoiding this costly beverage.
According to reports, kopi luwak is prepared by a "natural fermentation" process that takes place when the coffee beans pass through the digestive tract of civets, supposedly improving their flavor. Suppliers of kopi luwak assert that the digestive enzymes of the animal possibly lend a "musky" flavor coupled with traces of chocolate and caramel to each brew. However, what the coffee actually offers is a feeling of enjoying a rare luxury, according to USA Today.
The bizarre coffee was trendy in the West for a while, but, according to the Wildlife Alliance, of late the beverage has started getting crazily popular in malls in various regions of Asia. Consumers are willing to pay exorbitant prices for a cup of kopi luwak because they believe that the drink offers special powers, something like the supposed benefits of ginseng, rhino horn, or shark fin.
Nevertheless, the kopi luwak beans are obtained in a very cruel manner. They are often foraged from civets in the wild, a process that seems to be extremely painstaking. However, most desperate producers simply capture the civets using metal traps. Subsequently, the captured civets are force-fed beans employing a technique akin to the one used for foie gras. Civets that receive an overdose of caffeine this way, tend to pace their cages and nibble at stuff, including their own limbs, resulting in their lifespan being very brief.
Watch the video "People trying the world's most expensive coffee" below:
