ANIMAL POOP COFFEES: MORE THAN JUST KOPI LUWAK

Coffee lovers from all over the world like to try new things when brewing coffee. Some will even try poop coffee. Eum, What?

Okay, we get it. When you hear the words poop and coffee in one sentence, you might think: Are you sure? Yes… The thing exists…

Are you a real barista or coffee fan? Of course, you are. Do you want to try some special things? Of course, you are. Do you want to try poop coffee? We understand you’re a bit more reluctant. Besides that, the price is also very high.

We’ve already talked about the Kopi Luwak before, but there are also other animals involved besides cats: bats, elephants, birds, and monkeys.

Here in this article, Golden Sin will cover poop coffee and guide you on this topic to clarify some things.

WHAT IS POOP COFFEE?

Poop coffee is coffee that’s produced from poop. Poop Coffee has been digested by animals, making it unique to other special coffees.

We all know that coffee can give you health benefits. The thing that separates poop coffee from other coffees is that coffee beans are exposed to the animals’ digestion and saliva.

Thanks to this digestion, the coffee bean changes and contain less bitterness and acidity. This has some benefits for us (healthier) and results in a minder and delicate taste.

To be clear: these animals eat the coffee cherries, not only the bean. The bean is the “end-result” as we would say ;).

IS IT SAFE TO DRINK POOP COFFEES?

Yes! All before the brewing of your cup of coffee, it’s not transparent or done in the right way. More on that below!

Coffee is processed in a way that we can drink it. These poop coffee beans have undergone many steps: they’ve been washed, dried, raked, sorted, processed, roasted at very high temperatures, and brewed mostly by hot water (you can also cold brew your coffee).

So if you’re worried about, literally, drinking shit, don’t worry. By undergoing these processes the bacteria and all other bad things are gone. Of course, we can’t guarantee that your coffee won’t taste like shit (as a manner of speaking) ;).

ANIMAL RIGHTS?

Most of these animals are forced to eat these coffee cherries to speed up production and increase their profits. The demand is higher than the production, justifying more or less the higher price tag.

However, when we think about the cages civet cats are forced to eat the coffee cherries, animals are forced to do this. This isn’t right.

Apart from the bad treatment, living in a cage and being forced to eat certain things isn’t exactly what I call a good treatment, the quality of the coffee goes down also. This is because, when these animals live in the wild, they only look for the best of the best coffee cherries available, thus improving the quality of the poop coffee bean.

ANIMAL POOP COFFEES

Here, we will talk about 5 animal poop coffees we know of that are made in this world. We start with a table with some specs about these coffees. We will give you the price per pound, the estimated global production, the continent they’re sourced and if they poop the beans out or not

POOP COFFEE	PRICE PER POUND	LOCATION (CONTINENT)	REAL POOP?
CAT (KOPI LUWAK)	~$600	Asia (South-East)	Yes
BIRD	~$330	Brazil (South America)	Yes
ELEPHANT	~$500	Asia, (North)	Yes
MONKEY	~$320	Asia (India)	No
BAT	~$230	Costa Rica (North America)	No

CAT POOP COFFEES (KOPI LUWAK)

This one is probably the most popular in the world. They’re sourced from the Asian palm civet in Asia (Indonesia). They also get the name Kopi Luwak, native language. Luwak stands for the civet cat, Kopi stands for coffee.

Indonesia was mostly under Dutch control (colonization) in the 18th century. They introduced the concept of coffee harvesting into Indonesia. All of the coffee needed to be exported to Europe.

The only beans they could get were the coffee beans that were digested and pooped by the wild civets, Kopi Luwak. Back then, it was the only way they could get a cup of coffee.

Nowadays, this coffee is still very popular and in high demand around the world, but also very controversial.

HOW IS CAT POOP COFFEE MADE?

These civet cats like coffee cherries a lot and they only go after the best they can find. They don’t eat anything when they’re in the wilds. They go after the best and ripest coffee cherries. This increases the quality of the coffee beans, cat poop coffee is made of.

When the civet cat eats the coffee cherry, it processes the skin and pulp of the coffee cherry. The coffee bean isn’t digested but has undergone a fermentation process. After this, the coffee is harvested, washed, dried, roasted at very high temperatures, and brewed with hot water.

Mostly, these coffee beans are Robusta beans

HOW DOES CAT POOP COFFEE TASTE?

The coffee tastes earthy and is very mild. Thanks to the special process of digestion and fermentation, a lot of the acidity and bitterness are gone. This makes sure that the taste of your cup is of a high standard.

When consuming this cup, you don’t have to think about the route the bean has made before ending in your cup.

HOW MUCH DOES CAT POOP COFFEE COST?

Even though there’s a lot to do and say about animal slavery, this coffee is still one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Prices are around $600 per pound!!

Luckily, if you want to be sure the cat poop coffees are sourced in a proper manner (not caged cats and so on), you can buy from the sustainable farms that are certified.

All in all, a certification is a certification. You must rely on this but can’t control it yourself unless you have a farm of your own… A lot of uncertainty for a high price if you ask me. Go for beans with a UTZ certification. When farmers are UTZ-certified, they aren’t allowed to held civet cats caged.

BIRD POOP COFFEES

As with most interesting things in life, something happens when you don’t expect it. It’s the same for bird poop coffee.

Henrique Sloper produced sustainable top-quality organic coffee on his farm. He saw that Jacu Birds were eating from his coffee farms. There were other farms or plantations like him that grew coffee, but they favored his farm. The birds went, like most animals would, for the best quality available.

HOW IS BIRD POOP COFFEE MADE?

These Jacu Birds eat the coffee cherries, digest them and shit, poop them out. Afterward, the coffee beans are collected.

These birds have a balanced diet and eat multiple things. These birds are vegetarian, this is beneficial for the result of the beans as it benefits the digestion process.

HOW DOES BIRD POOP COFFEE TASTE?

Bird poop coffee has a full-body, mild pleasant aftertaste and is balanced. It has a very sweet nutty taste and you’ll find notes of brown bread, milk chocolate, star anise, and molasses.

HOW MUCH DOES BIRD POOP COFFEE COST?

The price is about $330 per pound.

ELEPHANT POOP COFFEES

Elephant poop coffee is made through a process that relieves us from bad thoughts as we have on the civet cats. These coffee poop beans aren’t produced in a way that the animals are forced.

Elephant poop coffee is known as Black Ivory Coffee.

This coffee is made in Asia, Thailand (North).

HOW IS ELEPHANT POOP COFFEE MADE?

First of all, the elephants are fed with Arabica cherries that are grown at high levels, about 1,500 feet high.

The elephants have a varied, balanced diet, enriched with these Arabica cherries.

After the elephants have processed the coffee cherries, farmers go through the poop to remove the undigested beans.

Of course, after this selection, the beans undergo a lot of steps: they’re washed, raked, dried, and so on before they end in your cup.

These elephants have been treated very well and eat more than only those coffee cherries. They have a varied diet and thus aren’t forced to do so.

To make 1 pound of Black Ivory coffee, we’ll need 33 pounds of coffee beans. Think about all the work and time that goes into producing 1 pound of coffee.

HOW DOES ELEPHANT POOP COFFEE TASTE?

Thanks to the more balanced diet from the elephants, this coffee tastes cherry, floral. The coffee isn’t bitter and is soft. There are also hints of malt, tobacco, and grass. The latter is because elephants are herbivores and plants are beneficial for their fermentation process.

HOW MUCH DOES ELEPHANT POOP COFFEE COST?

To make 1 pound of Black Ivory coffee, we’ll need 33 pounds of coffee beans. Think about all the work and time that goes into producing 1 pound of coffee. This justifies the higher price tag for this coffee. ($500 per pound)

MONKEY POOP COFFEES

Monkey poop coffee is produced in India, Chikmagalur. This area has a great climate and is known for the favorable conditions for growing coffee.

In this area live the Rhesus monkeys. Like most of the other animals that make poop coffee, they like to eat the best coffee cherries from the farms.

HOW IS MONKEY POOP COFFEE MADE?

We describe it as monkey poop coffee, they aren’t shit out or digested that way. These monkeys like chewing on these cherries spit them out like humans do when chewing on tobacco.

These coffee cherries are digested by the monkeys’ saliva. They like the best cherries, like most of the other animals (wild civet cats, birds…). This is why this coffee is of great quality. A good input contributes to a fantastic output. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts!

These coffee beans don’t look very green but have a darker color.

HOW DOES MONKEY POOP COFFEE TASTE?

This coffee hasn’t undergone a route like most of the other poop coffees. They’re processed with only saliva.

They have a lot of body, pleasant acidity, and have a little bitterness. Because of this special process, the tastes can be fruity, nutty, chocolatey. There’s a lot of spread when it comes to taste.

HOW MUCH DOES MONKEY POOP COFFEE COST?

This coffee costs about $320 per pound, it’s very rare and production isn’t very high. Globally, only 100 pounds can be bought in 1 year. That’s peanuts. We all know, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys right? Sorry, couldn’t resist!

BAT POOP COFFEES

Bat poop coffee is a phenomenon in the Southern region of Costa Rica. A certain species of bats live there in the forest around Coffea Diversa Coffee Garden.

HOW IS BAT POOP COFFEE MADE?

Bat poop coffee is, like monkey poop coffee, not shitted out. The bats also like these coffee cherries, enrich them with their saliva and spit them out. They favor the sweet pulp inside.

These cherries aren’t fully consumed. They’re licked by the bats and left to dry. This combination starts the change of the coffee bean.

HOW DOES BAT POOP COFFEE TASTE?

The fact it’s not fully consumed, we can taste more fruity and floral flavors.

A cup of wild bat coffee is smooth, sweet, and has a great aftertaste.

HOW MUCH DOES BAT POOP COFFEE COST?

The price is more affordable when compared to other animal poop coffees: about $230 per pound.

WHY ARE POOP COFFEES SO EXPENSIVE?

We can safely say that thanks to the digestion and saliva, the taste of the poop coffee beans has increased a lot. Unfortunately, this goes the same for the price. Mostly, if we pay a high price, we expect high quality.

We can expect that these poop coffee beans are of high quality. The price is also contributed by the limited availability and production of these poop coffee beans.

The latter is one of the main reasons for the debate and controversy about abused animals. Think about the Kopi Luwak: to increase production they’ve caged the civet cats and forced them to eat coffee cherries. Normally, animals search for the best coffee cherries out there, a standard for high-quality poop coffee beans.

We’re the end consumers of these poop coffee beans and thus we don’t always know if we have gotten the right beans. There are a lot of scams possible with this, as with any coffee product (think about the discussion organic or not).

IS BUYING POOP COFFEE WORTH IT

Should you buy poop coffee? Does the higher price tag justify the fact of high quality?

As we’ve said before, there’s always the doubt if they’ve been produced and processed in the right way. Were the animals able to live normally and pick the best quality out there and so on?

Even if you’ve bought the real deal, does the higher price tag outperform the other coffees we have in de 21st century and the newer techniques?

These beans are also said to have less acidity and thus a more flat coffee. Acidity is very important when it comes to flavor.

CONCLUSION

We live in de 21st century and can rely on more advanced techniques to buy state-of-the-art coffee (grounds, beans, organic). There’s no doubt that there are coffees that outperform animal poop coffees.

Animal poop coffees have less bitterness, less acidity and are not widely available and produced in very small quantities. These conditions stimulate scams like the caged civet cats for selling more Kopi Luwak.

We do think this can be a great experience. If you want to do so, do it for the story behind the poop coffee bean and not for the “high quality” alone. If you buy Elephant Coffee (Black Ivory Coffee), you’ll know that the profits go to the conservation of the elephants.

Enjoy your coffee!