That’s One Expensive – and Gross – Cup of Coffee

It’s an addiction. I admit it. I long for it and I don’t really care what format in which it comes to me. I drink it. I love it in my medicine. And I might even find it in various food formats. Caffeine.

I hate the frilly, sugary type of drinks out there. Don’t give me a latte or macchiato or even add sugar /// smooth, black, and simple are my preferences. One time I decided to try various grinds. Not flavors but origins … Columbian, Hawaiian, etc. In my research I discovered Kopi Luwak – considered by many the most expensive coffee in the world.

Let’s get a little background. The bean goes through a specific process. First is a cute little Toddy Cat, aka Asian Palm Civet Cat. I am not a cat person, but these are pretty little felines. The cats are native in south and south east Asia. They have an unusual diet of coffee cherries. They pick the ripest and best … and eat them. Then the coffee cherries pass through the cat’s digestive system and only the coffee pit (or bean) is pooped out. Yep, pooped. The pooped beans are collected, cleaned (thank God), and processed. If the cat is a wild cat, the beans can catch up to about $500 a pound. $500! This is not something you pick up in a normal grocery store coffee aisle. A limited supply is produced each year.

There are imitations. There are poor quality beans. People capture the coffee pooping cats and farm the beans (though this is considered taboo). Farming the beans brings weak, short-lived animals and the beans are not as tasteful. So, certified wild Civet Kopi Lusaka is the preferred bean.

Okay, so we’ve got the pooped (and cleaned) beans. And the beans are then processed into a cup of coffee in whatever various ways you seem fit. Know this – you can’t get it in a K-Cup.

My preferred way is Aero-Pressed – cleaner, crisper, and fresher. And as always, freshly ground beans have the best aroma and taste.

What’s the point here? I guess it’s that we often find the best comes to us in unique and unexpected ways.

Don’t write something off just because it seems to be weird or have a weird history.

God shows us the best way to live through being an example Himself. He came to us, God in the flesh, and lived a selfless, caring, giving life. He reached out to the outcast, the lonely, the despised, the wonderers in life.

He loved us so much He died for us – taking our judgement, our punishment – so that we could have life, life with Him … forever.

That is the greatest story ever. Not the coffee, but the Savior. I hope He’s in your story too.