Good to the Last Dropping

"On coffee plantations, palm civets dine heavily on coffee cherries. However, they are not pests because palm civets digest only the outer pulp of fruit, passing the coffee beans unharmed through their digestive systems. And because palm civets repeatedly deposit their droppings in piles at the same spots, the coffee beans are easily collected...Recently, kopi luwak hit American shores, not surprisingly in California. Imported from a dealer in Europe by M.P. Mountanous in San Francisco, unroasted kopi luwak beans sell for $110 a pound. Roasted, a pound of the beans goes for $175 (!) at a Mendocino gourmet coffee shop..."

Complete coffee article