Kopi Luwak, is one of the most expensive and rare coffees in the world. .  The beans that compose this coffee take an interesting path before the typical roasting, grinding and serving into your cup.  The animal that makes this happen is the cat-like Asian palm civet that eats the highest quality beans, partially digests the food’s fleshy exterior and excrete what’s left (thus, “cat-poo-chinno”). These excreted beans are cleaned, fermented, dried, roasted, ground and brewed to create the world-renowned coffee that is Kopi Luwak.

Legend has it that when Indonesia was a Dutch colony, plantation owners forbade workers from picking coffee beans for their own use. Apparently, a curious — and potentially desperate — soul might have picked out beans left in droppings of the civet and roasted them into what became a luxury item. Since only a limited amount of beans are harvested this way, Kopi Luwak became one of the worlds’ priciest specialty coffees, sold for up to $180 a pound. The acids and enzymes in the civet’s stomach are said to impart a syrupy, heavy and full-bodied flavor, and a musty earthiness that is highly valued by coffee connoisseurs.