World's Most Bizarre Specialty Coffee
By Jon Symons, Fri Dec 9th
Anyone who lives in a big city these days has seen first-handthe proliferation of 4-dollar-a-shot coffee shops. Thanks toStarbucks and their like coffee has become the number 2commodity in the world (petroleum is number 1).
Grown in dozens of countries world wide the coffee 'bean' isactually the pit of a coffee 'cherry'. In normal circumstancesthe cherries are picked at the peak of ripeness and once theouter fruit is removed the is ready for roasting,grinding and transporting to your local café.
However, there are three small islands in the IndonesianArchipelago called Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi where this processtakes a bizarre twist. You see coffee is coveted by not only byus humans but a local creature called a
Palm Civet. The Palm Civet is a tree dwelling marsupial with aparticular fondness for the local variety of coffee cherries.
Of course, these cat-sized coffee aficionados don't have thetime to peal the cherries and eat just the fruit, so theyswallow them whole. Well guess what comes out the other end? Yesthat's right, a non-digested, semi-fermented coffee bean.
It started as a way for locals who weren't brave enough, or toolazy to climb the coffee trees, to have
