While I once pooh-poohed the notion of poo-poo coffee (and any other delicacies that passed through the digestive system of a civet or a beaver) in “Say, Did That Strawberry Flavor Come From Beaver Butt?” it seems that back then, I didn’t know my head from my ass.
A well-connected friend hooked me up with some of the $300-a-pound brew over the weekend, and I have to say, it was pretty fine. As advertised, the coffee felt velvety in my mouth, with delicate flavors and no aftertaste or acid bite. Having “bean” around the world a few times, my husband and I like to think of ourselves as adept coffee judges. I would score this Doi Chaang blend from Thailand as one of the smoothest I’ve ever tasted (and apparently, this was not even the finest of their fine blends).
In case you’re not familiar with the process for making civet coffee, here’s the rundown:
- Furry little Southeast Asian civets run around eating coffee cherries
- The beans from the cherries ferment in their stomach acids and enzymes
- The civets poop
- Diligent workers run around and pick up the poop
- The poop is washed, and voilà! The prized coffee bean is left behind.
Now you can understand why I may have been a skeptic at first.
As with any emerging industry, regulation and quality control is an issue. In a New York Times story, it was reported that one farmer went as far as to glue regular coffee beans to some “unidentified dung” before trying to sell them for top dollar. (His mistake was not choosing water-soluble glue.)
Yet others have started to keep caged civets, feeding them coffee beans in order to mass-produce the premium blend. This makes me, and the civets, sad. Civet coffee buyers are therefore cautioned to purchase only brands and blends which specify they came from wild civets, like the Doi Chaang brand I mentioned above. (Talk about good marketing, here’s the page on Doi Chaang’s website that includes endorsements from Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki and gorilla researcher Jane Goodall.)
As fantastic as it tasted, I won’t be enjoying civet coffee again anytime soon — the baht-to-dollar currency conversion of the price on this tin comes out to $33 for 50 grams, and it’s even more expensive if sourced online. This whole experience has planted the entrepreneurial seed bean, however.
What can I feed my cat that will result in a high-yield, exorbitantly-priced commodity that doesn’t smell funny and tastes good? And more importantly, where do I find a willing group of product testers? I don’t have the answer yet, but she looks worried even as I write this, and I’m sure will be watching me closely the next time I scoop the piles from her litter box.
What strange food or drinks have you tried, and was it under duress?
Photo of civet in cage: © surtr / CC-BY-SA-2.0
I think I’d try almost anything once. That being said, I haven’t tried too many extra-ordinary food items. I need to fix that. I bet my dog thinks the sandy gems she sometimes sneaks from the cat box are just as fine as civet poop coffee 😉 As for non-smelly cat food, if it’s not stinky flavor, they just are never impressed.
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You guys need a top-loading litter box! That’s what we had to get when Yolanda came into our lives. She also likes the kitty roca. And for the non-smelly cat food, I’m talking about when it comes out the other end, and I’m processing it into something that I can sell for hundreds of dollars on the open market. 😉
Haha I think I’ll carefully scrutinize my dinner the next time we stop by!!
You’ll just know judging by the bill I render at the end of the evening. 😛
As much as I adore my coffee, and I do, I couldn’t bring myself to drink civet coffee. Just reading that it tasted velvety made me want to hurl. Yikes! I also am a bit squeamish when it comes to offal – don’t be giving me brains, eyeballs, spleens, intestines, etc… The most exotic thing I’ve eaten is liver and I’m proud that I will eat that! Actually, I must confess that as I get older, I’m getting squeamish about eating bird looking items. Even the other day, I couldn’t bring myself to buy chicken wings because the idea of gnawing on a bird’s wing just didn’t sit right. This after a lifetime of KFC and Brownies chicken (and White Spot Chicken Pickns).
This makes me less adventurous when I’m traveling but I’ll still be brave and drink any red wine set in front of me. :))
Oh, Jo-Anne, you make me chuckle. So courageous of you to tackle that red wine. I’m with you on the offal — have NEVER been able to eat that. I haven’t reached the same stage as you with chicken wings yet, but rabbit stew, no thank you. Was served bunny for dinner once at an Italian friend’s house, had to pass.
Ooh, I’ve heard of this stuff (though am not rushing to taste it myself.) I think the comedian Stephen Fry gave some as a wedding present to Prince Charles, as the perfect gift to buy for the man who has everything.
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Oh my gosh, that is hilarious!
Hahah! I laughed so hard at that last paragraph. I will not be product testin that!
I don’t know if I have teasted anything weird. Maybe some crickets in Mexico. That’s not very exciting! Poop coffee is much cooler!
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Oh, I think crickets are right up there! I think of them going crunch in my mouth, or tickling my tongue with their sticky-outy legs, and it makes me shudder.
I can’t believe you actually got some – and had the balls to try it! Bwahaha!!! Awesome. Now I want some. Save for my next visit! Lol. Or was it a one cup deal? Did Francis try it?
It was a one-cup deal at my friend’s place up in B.C., and then she let me bring the can home. No, Francis didn’t get to try it, but he wants to as well!
I would love to taste this Civet Coffee but alas, the slim pocket book makes the rules not me.
If ever said pocket book became a little more flexible, I’d definitely go for the wild civet blend.
As for your business idea–hmm…would the same process work with bitter cocoa beans?
Cocoa beans, hmmm, maybe. Or how about pine nuts? There’s a pretty wide range for quality when it comes to pine nuts, hey? Or dried mushrooms. Wow, the opportunities are definitely out there! hahaaa!
This is me officially declining to be your product tester. Ever. Regardless of monetary incentives. Your kitty looks highly skeptical at the prospect of converting her poop into anything remotely edible, but I’m sure my doggie would be happy to sample the offerings. 🙂
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Awww, come on, Kern, don’t just flake without even having a whiff of the finished product! And yeah, my dog is always right in there when it comes to anything kitty poop, too.
Funny post. But leave little Sushi alone ;). I do know the stuff that comes out of Bruno is good fertilizer but that is about it.
Ach, it’s unrealistic to think about “mining” anything via Sushi anyway as she’s such a fusspot that she’ll only eat one kind of food. Bruno sure does poop a lot, maybe you should buy an acreage? Thanks for stopping by, Kris.
HAHA! Too funny! I’m starting to think about that last wine and chocolate tasting – although it seemed legit ….
Damn! I enjoyed it until this last post made me think more seriously about it. Those little crunchy things in the chocolate were just nuts, right? RIGHT?? Argh!
Who can know for sure, really? But I fed a whole box of those chocolates to Francis and he’s still standing. 😉
Thanks for stopping by, Heather!
I’ve wanted to try this for years but have worried about supporting some rather inhumane money making practices. Glad to learn that there are certified wild sellers. Have you heard of elephant coffee? A new marketing twist. Instead of a quick in and out the beans float around the gut for quite a while ‘absorbing flavor’. Thanks for a good post.
I totally understand, Dennis. The conditions under which a product is produced always weigh on my mind as well. I did not know of elephant coffee and will have to give that a Google! Thanks for stopping by.