A four month old Luwak is tempted by some red coffee beans at the BAS Coffee plantation January 20, 2011 in Tapaksiring, Bali, Indonesia. The Luwak coffee is known as the most expensive coffee in the world because of the way the beans are processed and the limited supply.
If you think Starbucks charges too much for coffee, consider the beans produced in Indonesia that cost roughly $400 per pound. Called “golden droppings,” the beans are excreted from a stable of civet cats, which supposedly carefully select only the best beans to eat in the first place. Their digestive juices then penetrate the beans, and after they come back out of the cats they’re collected, cleaned (and cleaned and cleaned), and roasted. The result is a coffee that’s soft, rich, and not remotely bitter. Supposedly. And the result is expensive: In specialty coffee houses in London, a single cup of this Joe costs around $100.