you thought gas was expensive...

So you think $4 for a gallon of gas is expensive? Try $100 for a cup of coffee! Now before you caffeine lovers run out and stockpile your garage with coffee beans, don't worry. I'm not predicting a coffee shortage. I'm talking about the most rare coffee in the world, Kopi Luwak.

Never heard of Kopi Luwak? I hadn't either until a few months ago. Even during my two years as a coffee master at Starbucks, I never ran across this one. So you ask, how can this coffee be worth $100/cup? Oh, you're not really asking that. Well, humor me. Go ahead, ask.

Well, I'm so glad you asked! You see, there are only about 450 lbs. of this coffee harvested each year. This beautiful Indonesian creature called the Palm Civet, which is a mix between a cat and a monkey, eats the beans which are mellowed in the camonkey's stomach and mixed with everything else a camonkey eats. Once nature takes its course and the beans pass, the beans are harvested, roasted, and brewed. mmmmm.....

Now, I've often thought about who the first person was to try certain foods. For instance, who was the first person to eat an egg? "Wow, did you see that white thing pop out of the bottom of that chicken? I think I'll crack it open and eat it!" We eat some pretty crazy foods that had to have originally been chosen out of desperation. However, why in the world would someone try to brew some coffee made from camonkey poop? That is just plain wrong.