Category: Holidays

It’s not just ANY coffee…

IT’S WEASEL PUKE COFFEE!  YAY!

There’s a little animal in Vietnam which has magical properties. Locally, it’s called a weasel (though technically, it’s a type of civet, but let’s call it a weasel like the locals) and it sure likes to eat the fruit of the coffee plant. But the seeds don’t sit well in its tummy, so it vomits them up. And that’s where the fun comes in – for local coffee folks gather up the beans and lightly roast them. The stomach acids seem to wear away the bitter taste of the coffee beans, and the resulting coffee is delicious and smooth.

From Wikipoidland we find this related tidbit:

Kopi Luwak (pronounced [ˈkopi ˈluwak]) or Civet coffee is coffee made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The civets eat the berries, but the beans inside pass through their system undigested. This process takes place on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Philippines (where the product is called Kape Alamid) and in East Timor (locally called kafé-laku). Vietnam has a similar type of coffee, called weasel coffee, which is made from coffee berries which have been regurgitated by local weasels. In actuality the “weasel” is just the local version of the Asian Palm Civet.

Note that Wikistuff contradicts itself here, and that the coffee beans are fully processed by the “weasel.”

It’s a steal at only $24.99 per pound 57 grams.  (That’s only $198.81/lb., but one sip keeps you wired for a week.)

[Weasel Puke Coffee description found here where it may be purchased;  found via RGS. More info here.]