Written by Sandhya Raghavan | Published : December 19, 2017 4:51 PM IST
Most caffeine lovers don't care where their coffee comes from as long as they get their daily fix. But what if it comes from an animal's behind, as most exquisite and expensive coffees do? If you are an ardent coffee lover, would you dare to try some of these downright disgusting types?
Kopi luwak: We wonder who discovered kopi luwak and what he was doing digging through civet cat faeces in the first place. Cat poop coffee is literally what it sounds like. Kopi luwak is coffee prepared from partially digested coffee beans excreted by the Asian palm civets. These mammals eat coffee berries and excrete the beans. These are then cleaned, roasted and marketed as the world's most expensive coffee. Proponents of kopi luwak believe that the digestive enzymes of the civet cat ferment the beans during digestion, altering its flavour profile.
Black ivory coffee: Ever since they struck gold with cat poop coffee, coffee manufacturers became hell bent on repeating the success with every animal. Elephant dung coffee or black ivory coffee is the result of one such effort. The digestive enzymes of elephants help in breaking down the proteins in the coffee beans, which improves the flavour and taste of the coffee. Some say that the process makes the coffee less bitter.
Money spit coffee: Taiwanese coffee farmers are selling coffee beans chewed and spat out by the Formosan rock monkey. We are guessing praying that the discovery was made by accident. Coffee farmers believe that the spit of the monkey imparts a vanilla-like flavour to the beverage. But make no mistake. These beans are technically monkey trash, but it doesn't come cheaper than $50 for a pack.
Weasel vomit coffee: If digestive enzymes and spit don't do it for you, stomach acids will. In Vietnam, weasels eat coffee cherries and the hard beans inside. Like in the case of black ivory coffee, the powerful stomach acids help in breaking down the proteins and reducing the unpalatable bitterness of the coffee. Connoisseurs who swear by the coffee say that it tastes chocolaty.
Jacu bird coffee: Jacu is an endangered Brazilian bird from the Mata-Atlantica rainforests. Like the others, the jacu bird also eats and poops out coffee beans. These beans are then scavenged out of the droppings and washed, roasted and packaged.
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