Kopi luwak coffee is a delicacy and one of, if not, the most expensive beans available on the market.
This coffee is only produced in Indonesia, on parts of the islands of Sumatra, Bali, and Sulawesi. While Indonesia has a reputation for producing some of the best coffee in the world, kopi luwak is in a completely different league.
Kopi luwak is produced through an absolutely bizarre process. Coffee cherries, which are the small fruits from which coffee beans are gathered, are eaten in the wild by a small animal called a palm civet.
You can probably guess what happens next.
The animal partially digests the coffee cherries and then, well, defecates them out of its body.
Kopi luwak farmers then rummage through the droppings of the animals, looking for the partially-digested coffee beans that remain.
After being thoroughly washed, roasted, and then bagged, this coffee is then sold for up to $700 per kilogram. That means that just a single cup of coffee made by kopi luwak beans can be as expensive as $50.
There’s a reason why kopi luwak is so expensive and sought-after, though, as the beans produced through this process are said to produce an absolutely delicious coffee. It’s known for being rich, smooth, earthy, and not as bitter as normal coffee.
Would you try this absolutely bizarre and very expensive beverage?
