I SHIT YOU NOT!!

My normally-balanced 44-yr old Nephew is currently bragging about some over-priced whole Indonesian Coffee beans he bought online saying he'd wanted to try them for over year. He's sipping a cup as I write this.

The beans are sold as "Kopi Luwak"; the package label states they are "The Rolls-Royce" of the coffee world [a blatant lie], 100% ethically-sourced and that they were swallowed whole by Asian Palm Civets [which are second-cousins to Skunks] and then passed through their gut and out their ass where they were cleaned, roasted and ready-to-enjoy. The label goes on to proudly state: "Smooth, not bitter with a complex aroma and hints of Caramel and Chocolate." RIGGGGHT!

Perhaps I should also mention that Kopi Luwak beans sell online from $6-39 per OUNCE.

Now, I used to be a Coffee snob. I not only meticulously roasted my own green beans in a much-used Melitta, I also blended same and at one time even did acidity tests.... snobs can become REALLY obsessed!

My beans were always roasted & ground immediately before brewing and my brews were hand-poured through unbleached filters. At one time I had over a dozen varieties of green Coffee beans lining my countertop so I KNOW a good cup of Coffee, having drunk nectar from some of the rarest beans on Earth. Even so, as I've aged my tastes have changed so I switched to Teas.

But even if I was still sipping a nice cuppa' Java, there is NO WAY IN HELL I'd use beans reclaimed from a Skunk's pile of warm, yet somehow tasteful shit.

BTW: Asian Palm Civets are thought to be the original transmitter of SARS to Bats and then humans. So there's that fun little thought to ponder.

So, by all means Coffee drinkers: weigh in and proclaim the joys of drinking a brew made from beans processed through the intestines of an arboreal mammal.

Just understand one thing: I can make a better cup of Coffee using traditional beans that won't have that little something that makes them "extra-special!"