Sugar and spice and everything (but coffee) nice

I have to thank Cindy for letting me borrow a really funny book (among other things that I am thankful to her for..) The title is "Dave Barry is not taking this sitting down" and it's a compilation of articles by the humorist Dave Barry. My husband decided to read me a couple of those articles tonight. They are hilarious and they make you wonder if what he's talking about is all made up or not.. so much so, that I had to get on the internet and check one out.


And so I did..
I truly thought the guy was joking, making it all up. No. It is true. And it's called Luwak Coffee.

I absolutely love coffee, but this one..

Is it the fact that it is so rare?
Is it the fact that only 500 pounds a year are produced?
Is it the fact that it costs $300 a pound?

I do love coffee, but to the Italian in me the very essence of enjoying a cup of coffee is found in the ability to share it with friends. Yes, I am willing to pay a little more for a better tasting coffee, but $300???? I think I would buy a safe in which to keep it and I would drink it with a dropper!

But, no, it is not because of this that I cringe.

We Italians are also very picky about the way the coffee beans are prepared and roasted (la torrefazione). For example, the way american coffee is roasted makes it taste like soapy water when prepared with a traditional italian coffee pot. So, you've got to have it roasted right to really have a good coffee.
I don't really know how the Luwak Coffee is roasted.. but I know (now) the process that leads up to the roasting. And I cannot even bring myself to write it down.. Therefore, I'll copy bits and pieces from an article I found on the web on the subject:

Kopi Luwak coffee comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an area well-known for its excellent coffee. Also native to the area is a small civit-like animal called a Paradoxurus. That's the scientific name, the locals call them luwaks. These little mammals live in the trees and one of their favorite foods is the red, ripe coffee cherry. They eat the cherries, bean and all. While the bean is in the little guy's stomach, it undergoes chemical treatments and fermentations. The bean finishes its journey through the digestive system, and exits. The still-intact beans are collected from the forest floor, and are cleaned, then roasted and ground just like any other coffee.
The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavour with hints of caramel or chocolate.
...
One must wonder about the circumstances that brought about the first cup of Kopi Luwak coffee. Who would think to (or even want to) collect and roast beans out of animal feces? Perhaps a native figured it was easier to collect the beans from the ground this way, rather than having to work harder and pick them from the trees? We'll likely never know.
...
The coffee isn't so spectacular that it's truly worth that amount of money. You are paying for the experience of enjoying such an unusual and rare delicacy.

An unusual and rare DELICACY???

I have to find out how to get British citizenship.. I am switching to tea!