While tea and coffee are still the most popular drinks around the world, there have been some rather strange developments in the coffee market with a coffee made out of cat dung – yes that is not a typo!
As if the fact that you were drinking coffee made out of cat dung was not bad enough, the cost of this special “blend” of coffee is a massive £50 per cup. Caffe Raro is roasted from the Jamaican Blue Mountain and the Kopi Luwak bean which actually pass through the body of the Asian Palm Civet which live in the south-east of the region.
It is not known how, but the cat like animals have a skill which allows them to choose the best and ripest coffee beans available in the region and eat them. It is the enzymes in their body that strip away the hard outer layer of the fruit bean which is then passed through the animal’s body. Workers in the region then have the unenviable task of scouring the undergrowth for the dung of these cats. The dung is then washed and the resulting beans sell for over £300 a kilogram.
While by all accounts there is no doubting that the coffee has an interesting taste and aroma, there is very little information about the health attractions of the coffee or indeed any reason why it has now become a delicacy in the UK and other countries around the world. So next time you are offered a cup of “different” smelling coffee, check to make sure that you know what you are drinking before you have to pay for it!
It is amazing that over the years anyone has actually thought about, let alone done something about, collecting such a strange blend of coffee, then again at over £300 a kilogram there are attractions to those in the business!
