Kopi Luwak/Weasel Coffee?

[donnaaries]

I'm not a coffee aficionado but heard a report on NPR today that struck my interest. Has anyone had any experience with this Kopi Luwak coffee (retails around $600/lb, most expensive coffee) in the world, that is made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet, a weasel-like animal? The thought of paying up the arse for coffee that literally came from fecal matter seems ridiculous to me, but perhaps someone out there has had experience that proves otherwise?

A similar coffee, called weasel coffee, exists in Vietnam. Anyone tried this?

Wiki article for reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak

[Kirk]

Do I see a whole new product line for Noka?

I've certainly coffee that tasted like it had been passed through the gut of a civet (or maybe i was a ferret?),

[/i]

[FatCap]

It's a long-time delicacy in SE Asia and is hit-and-miss, depending on how well it's been handled after collection. What's more, it's still a robusta bean, as, until very recent attempts to cultivate arabica in SE Asia, there was not much of the higher class stuff growing...but that price is ridiculous, about 70-80x what it would be at even the most reputable stores in the big SE Asian cities. "Synthetic" versions of "ca phe cut chon" (fox poop cafe) are available throughout Viet Nam, side by side with the "real stuff".

[Worzel_Gummidge]

Andrew Zimmern ate that on one of his trips (Vietnam?). The show might be on the 'net at foodtv.com or YouTube.

[BK]

It's actually a member of the cat family. Been round for years, but I have never had it. There's website devoted to selling it -- Google the KL name and you'll get it.

[Scott--DFW]

Corby Kummer weighes in on kopi luwak, calling it "the horse meat of the coffee world" (with a pejorative connotation, despite his effort to remain open-minded).

Scott

[FatCap]

For convenience, here is the article that precipitated Kummer's comment.

Mr. Kummer neglects to mention the type and origin of kopi luwak samples he tasted. Did they come from The Philippines, or Indonesia, or perhaps elsewhere in SE Asia? He also didn't mention whether his samples were arabica, robusta (canephora), excelsa, or liberica. A writer as esteemed as Mr. Kummer, and as eager to show us readers, via Wikipedia reference-dropping (pun intended), all the cool places where he gets to "teach" despite the fact that such reference has zilch to do with the topic at hand, surely must know that most of the coffee cultivated in those regions are not arabica, the only type many connoisseurs consider worthy of use other than as a "blending", or filler, bean? For example, if Mr. Kummer had sampled some civet-processed excelsa, might its characteristic jackfruit notes have been the "sweet aftertaste" Mr. Kummer mentions? But surely, "the dean among food writers" and "one of the most widely read writers in America" would have recognized jackfruit, no?

C'mon, dude. All the cool foodie kids know that ya gots to cite origin these days if ya wants foodie cred.

To be clear, I'm not endorsing civet coffee, because, in my experience, I don't prefer even great robusta over good arabica (as with almost everything, there are exceptions--some Sumatran robusta being one). I've "sampled"/drunk cups of civet coffee in Asia and in America. I think paying hundred of dollars per pound for any coffee is ridiculous--heck, I think the $14/lb. Charbucks wants for some of its (decaf) beans is borderline ridiculous. But certainly more ridiculous are Kummer's tone and his comparison of this coffee to horse meat.