What is the world’s most expensive coffee?

The world’s most expensive coffee is known as kopi luwak or literally, “civet coffee” with retail prices reaching €550 / US$700 per kilogramme. The price of farmed (considered low-grade by connoisseurs) kopi luwak in large Indonesian supermarkets is from US$100 per kilogramme (five times the price of a high quality local arabica coffee). A pound of kopi luwak can cost anywhere from $100 to $3,000, and a single cup may cost as much as $80.

Asian palm civet feeding on coffee beans 

It is brewed from coffee beans that have been eaten and partially digested by the Asian palm civet, a catlike wild animal. Producers of the coffee beans claim that the process may increase coffee quality through selection and digestion. Selection happens if the civets choose to eat coffee berries containing better beans. Digestive may increase the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet consumes the berries for the beans' fleshy pulp, and then in the digestive tract, fermentation happens. The civet's proteolytic enzymes secrete into the beans, creation shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated with other fecal matter and collected.

Traditionally, the coffee was so rare because harvesters had to scour the rainforest floor looking for civet droppings that contained coffee beans. In recent years, some people have started caging wild civets and feeding them the beans directly.

Defecated coffee