Bali and Your Belly - $50 Cup of Coffee

We traveled up through the mountains for many reasons, one of which was to see a cat. Or rather, it's droppings. The last excrement that was this valuable was from the pharaoh and used as fertilizer for the temple crops. I'm not even kidding you.


You've heard of Monkey poop coffee, I'm sure. There is also civet cat poop coffee. My mother can't stop laughing at me. None of my family can, but when faced with a once in a lifetime opportunity that has a mortality rate of 0%, do you seize the moment, or do you wimp out? I guess the grossness factor comes into play, and to each his own on that one.



It was surreal. Sitting there with some warm hearted traveling companions, we trek through the forest until we come upon a seemingly empty cage. But on a little ledge inside a boxed shelter is the cat. It looks more like a weasel. But a cat is a cat, and it's not the cat we came to, er, taste.



It was surreal. With some warm hearted traveling companions, we trek through the forest until we come upon a seemingly empty cage. But on a little ledge inside a boxed shelter is the cat. It looks more like a weasel. But a cat is a cat, and it's not the cat we came to, er, taste.

They show us through the bamboo shelters where we see two men roasting the coffee beans in a shallow pan. I don't believe that was the civet cat coffee - they seem to harvest and sell many items, including coffee beans that haven't been processed by any mammalian intestinal tract.

We are shown seats that look out on that gorgeous mountainside. Protected by the shelter, we hear the first loud drops announcing the torrential tropical shower that arrives with deafening force that curtains our view, yet we remain dry. We are taken by the coffee that arrives. First, we are given five little cups (En and I shared a serving) of wonderful flavours all freshly brewed (see insert above right, from front clockwise: honey, ginseng, coffee, hot cocoa, ginger). We sipped the flavours, discussed our favourits and how wonderful it was that we were here. It becomes one of those memories that touches all the senses to ensure you will never forget this moment. Soon, the star of the show arrives.

They serve the civet cat coffee in what surely amounts to their finest china. Again, En and I share a cup. It is cost effective, since all we really want is a taste. Of course, we take it black. If I wanted milk and sugar, I would get a $4 cup of coffee, heck, even a $15 dollar cup of coffee, but this was for the experience. There was silence as we all tasted. I was sure everyone had the same thoughts as I did - is this what all the fuss is about? Maybe my palate is not coffee-sophisticated, but to me, it tasted like a regular brew. A good brew, nonetheless, but yet, nothing to make the angels sing on high, which was kind of our expectation now that the rain and stopped and they sky began to clear. The coffee had a slight sweet note with a notable slick on the surface, surely rich in oils. It had lighter notes, and not quite so heavy bodied. But yet, I was sure it was not unfamiliar, like something I could get at Second Cup. I wonder what they think? It turns out everyone feels exactly as I do! Phew! I was wondering if my taste buds had betrayed me, but no, even En didn't understand the fuss.
But who cares? I was there in the most beautiful setting for a new experience that I will never again in my life be able to recapture. And I wouldn't trade it in. Not even if I could have got the same coffee in town for four bucks.