It might not be to everyone's taste - and that's not just because at £50 a cup it's the most expensive coffee in the world.
The secret behind the special blend about to go on sale at an upmarket department store is that it is made from cats' droppings.
While such an ingredient might leave many spluttering into their cups, Peter Jones thinks it is on to a winner.
For the rest of April, it is serving espressos, Americanos and lattes made from the droppings in its in-store coffee shop in Sloane Square, central London.
And for those who want the ultimate talking point over the after-dinner mints, the coffee beans are also on sale at £50 for 100 grams.
The store, part of the John Lewis partnership, has bought 60 packets of the exclusive blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and the Kupi Luwak bean.
The bean is rare, with less than 450lb harvested each year.
The beans are extracted from the droppings of the palm civet, a cross between a cat and a monkey which lives in Indonesia.
The civets eat the soft coffee cherries, digest the fruit pulp and excrete the beans on the forest floor, because they cannot digest the beans.
Plantation workers then collect the beans, which are sold as Luwak coffee.
The civets are said to pick the best and ripest coffee berries.
It is also thought that their gastric juices may add to the flavour.
Now Peter Jones customers can taste flavour for themselves, with all proceeds from sales going to a cancer charity.
One, 23-year-old Hannah Silver, said: "I was a little apprehensive before I tried it but I actually really liked it. It was very earthy and it tastes very smooth.
"It wasn't too bitter and the earthiness really came through - probably because of where the beans have come from.
"It is a delicacy so I can definitely see someone wanting to pay £50 for this, perhaps for a present."
A Peter Jones spokesman said: "We wanted to give our customers a really special experience."
37 comments:
Abigail Ham
4th period.
Well, I knew being partial to tea was the safer, less disgusting way to go.
EW
Well on one hand, there are plenty of things in the world that people enjoy eating that sound pretty sick. So maybe this coffee is really good, but i still wouldn't drink it. Especially not for 50 pounds per cup The whole concept seems pretty bizarre to me and i wouldn't drink the coffee, even if it was free.
Ok...that's kind of strange. But I guess all in all if we knew where everything came from we wouldn't have anything to do with it. I mean think of bologna...mixed meat that's pretty gross. Oh, it's going to charity so drink up on the droppings.
Wow. That's disgusting. But I guess to each, his own! Personally, I think a person with the right skills can take anything in the world, package it correctly, slap an extremely high price tag on it and make an incredibly large profit and business out of it. It's all about the marketing skills. After all, fifty years ago, who would have believed that in the future people would pay a relatively high price for simple water in a plastic bottle? ..and it seems so normal now.
Tara Viswanathan
2nd Period
yeah.
last 6 weeks,
1st week.
Kayleigh Robertson
6th Period
That's really gross...but hey, what ever floats their boats man.
DANG!
i better have a "really special experience" when i drink this coffee. it sounds gross...but i guess i'd have to try it for myself. Hmmm...it makes me wonder if any other coffee products get their beans from WEIRD places.
:-/
Celesta Nave
10th grade
HuGeo4
Carleen DeArmon
3rd Period
♥
Well, if it suits ya.
I'm not a coffee drinker in general(I can't stand the stuff) but I'm willing to try anything once! Even if it is made from cat droppings.
That's not to say I would like to try whatever's in the litter box...
It is a delicacy, though, so I won't judge! Plus, what if you went on a hike and became stranded and had to drink coffee to stay awake? Wouldn't you be inclined to try these fabulous new-fangled coffee-beans?
hm. maybe if we didn't waste this much effort making luxury coffees, there wouldn't be food shortage in egypt and other poor countries like we had to read about a couple of days ago. surely we can find some better use of the effort, labor, and resources it takes to make stuff like this.
Gillian Welch
3rd
Coffee's gross. That's why I don't drink it.
I don't want to get addicted like all the Starbucks drinkers and have to trust coffee to make my day start off well.
That's silly.
50 pound cat dropping coffee! And I thought McDonald sucks. That's kind of nasty, but I am willing to try it anyways. 50 pounds is a little too expensive. But if it's really that good, well then maybe it's worth it. It might become the next best beverage... Just so you know, I'm quoting on the taste and quality, not the price.
Jiaqi Niu
HuGeo 4th
10th Grade
Thats Disgusting......I'm Glad Not All Coffee Comes From Cats Droppings!!! I Would Not Try That Even If It Was The Greatedt Coffee In The World...Is That Even Healthy?!?! =/
Jennifer
4th Period
This just goes to show that many people are unaware of what is in the things they consume and don't care that they don't know, and for the ones that do know, some of them sadly still continue to comsume it reguardless of its impact on their bodys.
Anjelica Savedra
4th period
9th grade
This article really tells a lot of hoe the coffee is. I don't drink coffee because i don't like it and know that i know what is inside the coffee i will never drink it. It's very nasty of what they put into the coffee. The beans that they put into the coffee is to make them flavour and i don't know if it does cause i don't drink coffee.
Wooow. That is insanely expensive for coffee!! It all tastes the same to me. Who would waste money on that??
Halil Fried 3rd
if its good........ actually, who is paying 100 bucks to have CAT DROPPINGS in a cup??? Who knows maybe it is incredibly tasty
At first when i read this i though they were just taking cat stuff and making it into coffee. But that's kind of cool that they get the beans from the waste. I don't think I would try it especially cause it's so expensive but it doesn't seem to gross.
millie dorsett
human geography ap
period 4 10th grade
i think that finding news ways to make coffee, and just other things in general, is definitely shaping the world, and it is interesting to see what they are coming up with, such as this new brand of coffee. but i do, find it a little gross, what they are making the coffee from.
Rachel Harvill
3rd Period
That's just a BIT repulsive. I don't think i would have the guts to drink coffee made from beans taken out of droppings of a civet. I'd hate to have that job.
i heard about this in the bucket list where jack nicholson's character drinks it and morgan freeman is disgusted by it... but ya sounds pretty sick nasty!
coffee made from crap. umm, i dont think i would be trying that. especially because its expensive. that sounds more like something a person would pay you to drink. or dare you.
Oh yeah! I heard about this story on the Bob and Tom Show, which is this morning radio show on 94.5 that I listen to. I think they tasted it, but said that it wasn't all that great, which I don't blame them. I mean, these beans have just been there marinating in some cat's butt! How is that a delicacy? But then again, so are fish eggs. On Bob and Tom they said there are even people who have to go into the poop with some toothpicks and take out those beans. What a wierd job, huh?
Jessica Kaskie
Human Geo-4
Landon Henderson
Pd. 4
Grade:9
That is just gross. Who in the world would drink any type of animal droppins. I can't beleive that it is even in the expensive coffe section
Um...
I can think of at least a few things to do with $100 that would be more productive than drinking feces. Like, you know, donating money to me to lessen my Perkins loans for college. Please?
You know what I want to know, though? What kind of twisted person does it take to come up with this? "Oh, hm, that random wild forest cat just pooped out a bean. I wonder if it would make good coffee...let's try...hm...oh! This taste, it's so great! I must have more!"
I'm actually kind of sad that this story wasn't posted on April 1. At least if it were then, I could still have some hope for the world...
Colton Limmer 6th
I know it sounds gross but a lot of things we eat are that way...kinda. Maybe the company is just charging so much because it is hard to get, not because it is the best. Very ineresting though
Wow. I'll have to tell my dad about this stuff. Are they exporting this coffee to America? I doubt somebody would go all the way to London to taste a it. I Actualy saw this on the news. Peter Jones is getting some major publicity.Sorry i couldn't get this to you sooner. My Internet has been down for a while.
Evan Denton 4th.
Peter Young
6th
I've always preferred the drinks that they serve at Starbucks, they can give you a cup of ice water for at least $3. 50. These civets, though are a real talent; Chuck Norris can do what they do, but with coal and diamonds.
In a society where we obsess over every miniscule detail in the life of a celebrity, wallowing in a lavish life style while complaining of the hardships we must face each day, is it that surprising that people would be willing, and in fact, eager, to pay 50 pounds for a cup of delicacy, no matter how ridiculous it sounds? As humans, we constantly try to elevate ourselves over others by proving our importance in the time span of eternity. It is naught but human nature to strive to confirm that we are not trivial, that our every actions have consequences, that our lives are worth living. The more extraordinary, the more unusual, the more bizarre some object, action, or idea is, the more our incessant thirst for significance can be temporarily satisfied. Thus, 50 pounds for an instant of contentment can seem all too reasonable to some.
Keti Tsereteli
Period 4
Human Geography
That is completely disgusting. I think I will stick to my starbucks drinks. I would not drink coffee brewed from animal dropppings. Who does that? Really?
tatiana =)
Well... I want some. Sounds good.
I ain't afraid of no cherry poop!
I bet it's really good.
That's...gross. I wouldn't drink it. But then again, we eat and drink alot of things that we don't really know where they come from and what they are made of...
Priscilla Davis
6th period
Thats a very special experience. I'm not thrilled about coffee to begin with now they decide to make money off of coffee like this. Thats too high priced and disgusting for my taste.
that is just gross!! i love to drink coffee but....now im not so sure!!! ewww....
ashely ambrosio
4th
ha this was an awesome post. i am a pretty avid coffee drinker, but it would take some serious courage for me to drink cat/monkey poop coffee. however, it would be worth the experience/a good story to tell friend.
so im guessing they can't just pick the cherries themselves? oh, right, it would lack the natural flavor of the cat/monkey gastric juices. ha.
i would never try this, it sounds digusting! i'd pay to see other people drink it but i don't even drink normal coffee so why would i drink this?!!EHHH!
sarah rock
6th period
i saw this on the bucket list but didn't think it was actually real...
even i, a coffee-guzzling fiend, would most likely never drink that.
but hey, whatever floats your boat, right?
it's all in the advertising, i suppose.
Thats really gross. Drinking something that was once an animals droppings is disgusting. But at least the proceeds go to a good cause. There's a plus
Exquisite!
This seems like something that would come on the show "Bizare Foods" or something like that. I agree with Daniel, there are much worse and more disgusting foods that people choose to injest. In reality, you are eating the fertilized droppings of another creature, which can't be all that bad for you. I would think they would have an "earthy" taste to them and would probably try it, but dislike it nonetheless becuause drinking coffee is not my cup of tea.
Gabriel Quinteros
2nd
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