Scat Cat! or ... Cat Scat

My son, always a fan of a good cup of coffee, suggested that I write this blog about my reaction to a fun gift he received for Christmas.  Simply stated it was a bag of Kopi Luwak coffee, described on the bag as the Rolls Royce of coffees. It is also described as having a "complex aroma". Remember that as you continue to read. 

The tongue in cheek title he suggested for this blog was something like... "Cat poo coffee: a journey through culinary culture". The title that I first thought of was, shall we say, less tactful.  I wish you could see my facial expression as I type this. Anyway -- he also texted a picture of his hand holding a cup of this coffee.  His caption was ... "Yum!"  Now the package also states that the coffee has hints of caramel and chocolate.  I need to ask him about that. I didn't, at that time, because I was thinking of other things.

Now you may already know this.  I did not. Here goes --- there are coffee beans that travel through the digestive system of civets, commonly called civet cats, that then are "passed"/defecated whole, after which they are carefully gathered, washed thoroughly and roasted. People pay good, hard earned money for this poo/poop coffee.  Interestingly enough there is a fascinating story on how this all first began.  I will leave you to do your own research however -- even though it is a marvelous story with a David vs Goliath type ending - definitely worth its own blog, one that I most likely will not be writing.

Here's the thing -- I simply find myself wondering 🤔 --  who was the first person to notice that these mongoose like creatures were eating coffee beans and defecating these beans still whole and thought to himself --  "Hmm... interesting. I think I will pick up all this "poop", wash it, roast it, and have a nice cup of coffee." Then again - maybe it happened by accident. But -- the process continues. It has become successful business. Seriously -- people are fascinating.

Note 1:  A civet cat, a cat like creature but really more similar to a mongoose, is not really a cat, even though they are called that.  Also... did you know that the the plural of mongoose is mongeese or mongooses.  I prefer mongeese because I find that fun. Imagine flying mongeese. 

Note 2:  The company that makes this Kopi Luwak poo coffee, a product of Indonesia, is called Monkey Business which caused some confusion as to the source of the coffee beans.  I, among others, first thought the poop was Monkey poop, but we were wrong.  Duh.  Although ... Monkey poop is a much more fun title than ... Cat Scat ... .