Hugh Neeld: The Curmudgeon Report

Every writer has friends who keep him informed with interesting tidbits of news and ideas from which he can get a good story idea.

This, as a matter of fact, is how I learned that January is Coffee Gourmet International Month, not as well known or widely celebrated as say Independence Day, but a legitimate observance nevertheless. My informant suggested it might make an interesting column, and put me onto an exotic new coffee that is taking America by storm, Kopi Luwak. It comes from Indonesia and sells for $600 per pound—less than Marijuana, but still unbelievably high for coffee.

What makes the coffee beans worth their weight in gold is not the exotic location in which they’re grown, but how they’re processed. Coffee beans are the mainstay of the diet of a small mammal called the Luwak who lives in large numbers on the coffee (kopi) plantations. Unable to digest the coffee beans, the Luwak expels them on the jungle floor where they’re harvested by the locals.

It was at this point I stopped reading my friend’s e-mail, even though it stated: ”This has been investigated and verified.” Yeah, I thought; sure it has.

Just out of curiosity, I went to the web and under search typed in K-O-P-I L-U-W-A-K. I couldn’t believe it. There were a dozen or so web sites with more information than you’d ever want to know on this subject. I was stunned. It was real. Everything in the e-mail was authentic.

On these Indonesian islands, this small marsupial climbs among the coffee trees eating only the ripest, reddest coffee beans. What they eat they try to digest, and then eventually excrete. The beans come through the digestion process fairly intact, and the enzymes in the animal’s stomach seem to add something unique to the coffee’s flavor through fermentation.

What presumably started as a way for the natives to harvest coffee beans without climbing the trees has since evolved into the world’s priciest specialty coffee.

Japan buys the bulk of Kopi Luwak, but the first person in the United States to bring in this exotic bean, recently imported 110 pounds after a seven-year search for a reliable supplier. “It’s the rarest beverage in the world,” he says, estimating a total annual crop of 500 pounds.

In San Mateo, California, a coffee house called The Coffee Critic sells Kopi Luwak for $7.50 a cup. The owner says she keeps the price low to allow people to experience the coffee. Most of the people who try it are longtime customers, and there have been no complaints.

”They all seem to feel it’s worth the price,” she says. ”Still, some are afraid to try it.”

Imagine that.

“Do you think it’s worth the money?” I asked my wife. ”Seven dollars and 50 cents for a single cup of coffee?”

“You pay more than that at the club for a bad Bloody Mary,” she replied. “I say you can’t take it with you. Why not spend it on something rare and exotic?”

---

A question to ponder:

Why is these an expiration date on sour cream?

putterhugh@suddenlink.net

---

Hugh Neeld is a freelance columnist for TylerPaper.com.

Hugh Neeld is a freelance columnist for TylerPaper.com.
()