im told there is a type of gormet coffee made by feeding the coffee beans to cats. after the cat goes to the litter box the beans are recovered from there and thrown into a coffee bean grinder then placed in a coffee filter where a hot steaming fresh pot of coffee is made.

heeellllllllll noooo

I don't drink coffee all that much.

ugh! You have got to be kidding. They must be cat lovers as well as coffee lovers...........

That is true, I believe it comes from India? Some big cat digests the beans then well craps them & I guess they clean them up and off to the roaster. I guess technically sanitary, but a sick thought. I definately would not try myself.

Actually the coffee is from the Palm Civet- its not a cat at all but an animal similar to a weasel or a stoat. The animal is found in Indonesia (where the coffee is called Kopi Luwak). It is also found in the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Ethiopia where the name of the coffee and animal is different.

The civet is basically nocturnal and will eat ripe cherries from the arabica or robusta trees that grow in the mountainous areas of Indo. Apparently the coffee sells fr about US$800/kg in the USA. Honestly, it costs me very little here so I have the opportunity to roast it on occasions.

The animal is selective in selecting only ripe coffee, however it is less fussy about other parts of its diet- meaning it couls also eat eggs, dead mice or rats/small birds. This can add a "gamey" taste to the coffee.

There are sme "force feed" civets in Indonesia, but its rare as the animals do not produce good droppings under duress!!!!