Cat-poop coffee!

[djmcmath]

So anyone who's anyone has heard about the gourmet coffee that's harvested from the feces of civets, a cat-sized mammal that lives in Thailand. Unfortunately, most of us haven't tried it because it's just so d*** expensive! A friend of mine was given a 50g container of beans as a going away present, and he immediately brought it to me. I've got an Alex Duetto dual-boiler PID-controlled machine that's hard-plumbed into the house water supply through a filtration system, so he knew I could get about as good of a result as was possible.

So the punchline: It tasted like coffee. It was a bit smoother than what I normally roast, but really not significantly better than a fresh roasted shot of anything else. I mean, I've gotten equally good flavor from beans out of Costa Rica and Guatemala for a tiny fraction of the price. Sorry to disillusion anyone who was excited about this, but you're better off not wasting your money.

Dan

[Moses]

Damn! And I just bought 20 pounds of that crap.

[craigster59]

My nephew was recently in Bali and tried it. I had never heard of it. This is what he wrote:
"Koppi Luwak, also known as cat-poo coffee is made by finding the coffee beans that were eaten and pooped out by the local civet cats. The bean itself is still whole and ferments a certain way as it passes through the cat, lending a unique flavor. Though I'm a coffee expert by no means, I found it pleasant. I've heard that in the states, it goes for about $80-90 a cup!"

He visited a "humane" coffee plantation and snapped a pic of a napping Luwak, dozing away while fermenting the beans...

[craigster59]

Here's a picture of the "story" of the coffee....

[Porsche-O-Phile]

So the very first guy to ever do this was thinking... what exactly?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

So the very first guy to ever do this was thinking... what exactly?

some dumb ass in Britain or America will eat this siht up and I will never have to ever sell one of my daughters to pimps again.

[Nickshu]

[Bill Douglas]

Man, I could get rich around this place. It's actually my dog who finishes my latte, not the cat, but who cares. Poo is poo and I'm happy to sell the stuff.

[gacook]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

So the very first guy to ever do this was thinking... what exactly?

I've had that very same question about a lot of the things we eat, especially various vegetables/roots.

[WPOZZZ]

[aigel]

Haha. I was thinking too - could I mix it in with dogfood for similar results? My hunting dogs could be useful in the off season!

I read that they have a lot of these cats in Asia they stuff with the beans for high through put. You also have to wonder about quality control. Slap a cat label on a regular batch of Java = 100000% profit.

This is idiotic IMHO. Just like a $50 bottle of wine vs a $500 bottle of wine. etc.

G

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gacook

I've had that very same question about a lot of the things we eat, especially various vegetables/roots.

This one always gets me. You've got to wonder how many people got sick or died before they figured out the safe way to prepare the stuff.

The plant with the common names cassava, Brazilian arrowroot, manioc or tapioca is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates.

Cassava must be properly prepared before consumption, as improper preparation of cassava can leave enough residual cyanide to cause acute cyanide intoxication, goiters, and even ataxia or partial paralysis.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava

Cassava roots, peels and leaves should not be consumed raw because they contain two cyanogenic glucosides, linamarin and lotaustralin. These are decomposed by linamarase, a naturally occurring enzyme in cassava, liberating hydrogen cyanide (HCN).

Cassava varieties are often categorized as either sweet or bitter, signifying the absence or presence of toxic levels of cyanogenic glucosides, respectively. The so-called sweet (actually not bitter) cultivars can produce as little as 20 milligrams of cyanide (CN) per kilogram of fresh roots, whereas bitter ones may produce more than 50 times as much (1 g/kg). Cassavas grown during drought are especially high in these toxins.

Societies that traditionally eat cassava generally understand that some processing (soaking, cooking, fermentation, etc.) is necessary to avoid getting sick.

Brief soaking (four hours) of cassava is not sufficient, but soaking for 18–24 hours can remove up to half the level of cyanide. Drying may not be sufficient, either.

A safe processing method used by the pre-Columbian people of the Americas is to mix the cassava flour with water into a thick paste and then let it stand in the shade for five hours in a thin layer spread over a basket. In that time, about 83% of the cyanogenic glycosides are broken down by the linamarase; the resulting hydrogen cyanide escapes to the atmosphere, making the flour safe for consumption the same evening.

The traditional method used in West Africa is to peel the roots and put them into water for three days to ferment. The roots then are dried or cooked. In Nigeria and several other west African countries, including Ghana, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso, they are usually grated and lightly fried in palm oil to preserve them. The result is a foodstuff called gari. Fermentation is also used in other places such as Indonesia (see Tapai). The fermentation process also reduces the level of antinutrients, making the cassava a more nutritious food.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

So, do you have SARS yet?

[djmcmath]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

So the very first guy to ever do this was thinking... what exactly?

As I understand it, the first people to try this were the slaves on coffee plantations. They were explicitly forbidden from harvesting any beans for their own consumption, so they'd follow around the civets and harvest beans from their poop. Apparently, it's got to be pretty fresh, or the beans start to mold.

[GH85Carrera]

It is likely cheaper and better tasting than Starbucks er Charbucks "coffee." And no standing in line!

[fastfredracing]

I heard it tastes like s#*t

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I wonder the same thing about meat products or seafood. Then again I'm a 25 year vegetarian... I don't know wtf must've been going through someone's head years ago to inspire them to kill some animal, rip it apart and eat its stinky, bloody, slimy carcass. Probably the same thing that inspired people to try some of the weirder and less-attractive looking plants - risk of starvation. I think we'd all eat just about anything (me included!) if it came down to basic survival.

[fastfredracing]

I cant believe the people I see lined up at starbucks daily . It tastes like burnt transmission fluid to me, and works faster than ex lax on my bowels.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Man, I could get rich around this place. It's actually my dog who finishes my latte, not the cat, but who cares. Poo is poo and I'm happy to sell the stuff.

Finally my lazy cats can start carrying their weight!



So if I put the coffee beans in their kibble think that will work?

[ckelly78z]

To me, all coffee tastes like chit, so it wouldn't matter what the source was.....I haven't tried one I like yet.