We know that coffee makes people meet in a common point and it’s one of the best options for people to relax, have a good time or wake up in the morning. For long years we consider coffee as human labor stuff. But in some parts of the world, animals are also include in this process. Yes, it sounds confusing so here are the extraordinary coffees made by animals that will make you question your coffee taste.
Bad Spit Coffee
In those days we are trying to fight Covid-19 which is thought causing by eating bats, reading this can affect some coffee lovers’ perspective on coffee. But surprisingly it is true, and “ Bat Spit Coffee” become one of the drinks which gain popularity lately. This extraordinary coffee made with Bourbon Pointu coffee beans and their chewing upon by bats. Bats consume the fleshy part of the coffee berries on the tree, tear the membrane of the seed with their sharp teeth and contaminate the coffee bean with their mouth secretions. This causes chemical changes in coffee beans and those beans collected by farmworkers and disinfected for preparation of the coffee.
In other words, the beans are partially digesting with bat spit. This creates a unique and rare coffee style. Even it sounds unappealing, the high demand for the coffee shows us the taste of the coffee earns the price. It is known that Bourbon Pointu sells domestically for about $101 per pound (200 euros/kg). This price is much more than the price of other coffees, it shows how unique it is. Quite understandably the spit pushes the prices higher as well as making the taste smooth and remaining on the tongue.
Monkey Spit Coffee
Rhesus monkeys and Formosan rock macaques are live in some coffee gardens in Taiwan and India. As you understand, the heroes of this coffee journey are these primate friends who love ripe coffee fruits. They consume the fleshy part of the coffee fruit and spit it out after chewing the beans thoroughly. Monkeys tear the nuclear membrane with their teeth, and the substances in their saliva cause chemical changes.
Although monkeys are one of potential pests to damage gardens, their choosing the best beans changed the bad ideas about them. The monkeys not only choose the best beans instinctually but also their saliva breaks down the enzymes and make the beans taste sweeter and aromatic. And of course, this natural and unique taste is not cheap in the market. If you want to enjoy Monkey Spit Coffee, you should pay around US$45 for a cup of coffee.
Black Ivory Coffee
As another example of extraordinary coffees made by animals, we can say Thailand’s Black Ivory Coffee. Black Ivory Coffee is also among the most expensive coffees in the world. And it is obtaining from elephant dung. Yes, you read it right, elephant dung! Elephants don’t consume coffee fruit because they don’t like it. They are allowed to consume coffee fruits by adding them to their favorite foods, rice, tamarind, and bananas. In the elephant’s stomach, the fleshy part of the coffee fruit melts, but the core part does not. Chemical changes occur in the bean, which undergoes fermentation with gastric juices. Then the farmworkers thoroughly clean and disinfect the coffee beans throwing out with elephant dung.
Unlike other coffees, this type of coffee is product of a combination of humans and animals. We can’t know for sure if it is a healthy situation for elephants. But it said animals are not harmed during the process. It can take 12 to 72 hours to reach the first step of production depending on the amount of food in the stomach of the elephants. Then the following steps are completing patiently and politely. And this long-term product sells at US$2,000 per kilogram.
Kopi Luwak Coffee
The civet, a cat living in Indonesia, loves coffee fruit, despite being a carnivore. Ripe coffee berries consumed by cats begin to ferment with acid in the cat’s stomach. After the fleshy part of the coffee fruit is digested in the stomach, the core part comes out of the body with the feces. The gastric juices and the beans that ferment in the intestine undergo chemical changes. Farm workers collect the droppings and sort and disinfect the coffee beans.
This coffee, which is sold in raw beans or roasted forms, is among the most expensive coffees in the world. Its prices ranging between $35 and $100 for a cup. On the other hand, these ranchers who have made cats into commercial slaves, feed these carnivorous cats only with coffee berries. These cats, who live in unhealthy conditions in cages, get sick in a short time. So this coffee is not only one of the extraordinary coffees made by animals, but also one of the cruelest ones. Despite the reactions from animal lovers, commercial practices that detach animals from their natural life unfortunately continue.
