Strange Brew- Worlds Priciest Drink? Indo's Secret

By Michael Doliveck ~ Balifornian Villas, Tours and Travel Blog

It’s highly sought after and its worth its weight in silver. It’s only available from certain parts of Indonesia.  It’s the drink of choice for the ultra-wealthy.  It’s been featured in movies, Oprah swears by it, and its known as one of the most expensive drinks in the world.     What is it?  

 Well, it’s called Kopi Luwak and it might surprise you as to how it is made.

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Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee, and Luwak is a small marsupial also known as the paradoxurus or Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). They only live on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi in Indonesia. The Luwak is a small tree-dwelling animal that climbs among the coffee trees eating only the ripest, reddest coffee cherries. They then digest and eventually excrete the bean. The proteolytic enzymes in the cat-like animals' stomachs adds a unique flavor through fermentation during the digestion process.  Locals then collect the “processed” bean.  It is then washed, sun dried, lightly roasted and then brewed to yield an aromatic coffee with very little bitterness.

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 Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world.  It sells for $100 to $700 a pound and special varieties have sold for over $3000 a pound!  It can also be purchased by the cup for up to $50.  Not to worry as Balifornian Tours can take you to authentic locations selling some of the highest quality Kopi Luwak found in the islands for a much lower price (around $4-$6 a cup)

And here is what it looks like in its 'raw' form. Are you brave enough to try??

Copyright © 2010 Mikaku ~ Michael Doliveck

It's really not that bad and you will come away with a great story from your travels to Bali.  Let us know what you think.

From all of us at Balifornian Villas, Tours and Travel Blog, we wish you happy travels and happy drinking too! Salamat Jalan dan Salamat Minum!!