Legend speaks of a cat, roaming the jungles of Indonesia.  This cat feeds off of the bushes of the cherry and finds itself in the middle of a delicacy.  That’s about as dramatic as I’ll get here.  This coffee does exist and it is a proven fact that this cat will eat the cherries and naturally rid itself of the seed – which turns out to be a coffee bean.  Farmers will then sift through the rubbish and hand pick these beans where they are bagged and shipped.  These beans are very rare and the cost mirrors the supply.

Coffee will naturally take on the flavor of the soil where it grows.  This is how it can have different characteristics in different parts of the world.  This bean takes on the deep, earthy nature that is accustomed to Indonesian beans but it is taken through a different process with different characteristics.  I have never been able to get any of it, until now.  My wife has a friend who is currently teaching English in Taiwan.  She was able to get her paws, I mean hands, on a bag.  It was about the size of a nickel bag, not that I have any personal experience, just what I’ve seen in Fear and Loathing.

Anyways, when I received the gift I was overly ecstatic and could hardly believe what I was holding.  My wife looks at me and says, “Are you really going to drink that?”.  And I reply, “Hell yes”.  The coffee was shipped to me ground, very finely ground.  I could not use my french press but I was able to use my Stove Top Coffee Maker.  Because of the fine ground I needed to brew it in a more percolator fashion, but like a nerd with his pocket protector I was prepared.

I added water right below the “blow hole” (not the official term but it is what I call the hole that looks like you can plug your headphones into).  I then added the ground coffee to the filter pot, closed it and brewed it on low heat.  This slowed the process down ensuring the coffee spent it’s time mixing with the beans.  I waited for ten minutes and then it was ready.

I poured a cup and noticed right away that this was going to be different.  And sure enough, it was.  I would like to compare this brew to Sumatra as they both inherit some of the same characteristics.  They are both earthy with a smoky texture.  Sumatra hits the back of your tongue causing almost a bitter type aftertaste.  This bitterness is what differs between the two.  CatPoo stays on the middle of the tongue giving it a very heavy type flavor.  Because of this I was able to get more of the earthiness of it.  Compare it to when you burn a hot dog on a charcoaled grill and you eat the crunchy black stuff.  That’s Cat Poo.

Cat Poo coffee is called Kopi Luwak or civet coffee.