Want a cup of cat's poo coffee? That'll be $50

By Danielle Cahill
ninemsn

Caffeine aficionados in Australia can now drink the Grange Hermitage of coffee, the Rolls Royce of their favourite bean— cat's poo coffee.

It's the most expensive cup of Joe on the planet and locals in Townsville are reportedly mad for it.

Called Kopi Luwak, it's an Indonesian coffee made from the faeces of a Luwak, a small cat-like creature native to the island nation's coffee-growing regions.

The Luwaks select the freshest coffee cherries to eat and once the bean passes through their digestive system it remains intact but is no longer bitter. Experts say this creates a sweeter-tasting coffee.

Bean pickers collect the animals' faeces along with the coffee beans. The excrement is then separated from the actual coffee before being washed and brewed up.

The heat of the initial brewing process eliminates any disease, fungus or parasite.

Kopi Luwak sells for around $1400 a kilogram, making it the most expensive coffee in the world according to Forbes magazine's Cup of Excellence awards.

Consuming the coffee from a cafe can still set you back a lot more than your average espresso. However, regulars at Townsville's Hervey's Range Heritage Tea Room have been happily paying $50 a cup for Kopi Luwak.

"[Demand for the coffee has] just gone mental," says the cafe's Donna Scott. "People really want to try it for the experience."

The cafe began stocking the gourmet coffee just before Christmas. All the store's gift packs — which range from $90 to $200 — sold out over the Christmas period.

The store's clients are happy to pay for this unique coffee experience and can have their Kopi Luwak made to whichever form of espresso coffee they ask for, Scott said.

Experts disagree. Drinking Kopi Luwak as espresso coffee can ruin much of its unique flavour.

"It'd be wasted in espresso," said Rob Forsyth, chairman of the Australasian Speciality Coffee Association. "You'd have to make in a plunger cup as the milk would destroy the flavour."

Forsyth, who has been stocking Kopi Luwak for the past two years in his Sydney cafe, sells individual cups for $4 and packs of the coffee for $140 per 100 grams.

It's a drink with a limited audience in Australia given its origin and price, Forsyth said.

"You only get coffee geeks who really want it," he said. "Yes, it's unusual, but nothing would justify that sort of money."

What do you think? Would you drink it?