Bali Travel Guide

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What Everyone's Buying in Bali: Kopi Luwak Coffee Packets

Where: Bali, Indonesia
May 13, 2013 at 12:26 PM | by | Comments (0)

Welcome to "What Everyone's Buying," a new series on souvenirs, wherein we investigate what tourist trinkets are the hottest selling in hotspots around the world.

Kopi Luwak. In the movie "The Bucket List," it's the favorite drink of Jack Nicholson's character; he calls it "the rarest beverage in the world." We wouldn't exactly say that, but it is pretty rare and not to mention expensive, with a reputation as being only for connoisseurs.

Of course all this makes it a terribly in-demand souvenir purchase for tourists to Bali, though purchasers may not always realize how it's made: an Indonesian civet (like a possum) eats a certain type of coffee berry. Its digestive system digests the meat of the berry, adds enzymes to the bean inside, and then poops out the bean. These beans are then collected, cleaned and sterilized, roasted and ground into coffee powder.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Kopi Luwak of Indonesia

Where: Bali, Indonesia
April 27, 2012 at 11:05 AM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Kopi Luwak. It's often named the rarest, most expensive, most for-connoisieurs-only coffee and it owes all these superlatives to how it's produced: an Indonesian civet (like a possum) eats a certain type of coffee berry. Its digestive system digests the meat of the berry, adds enzymes to the bean inside, and then poops out the bean. These beans are then collected, cleaned and sterilized, roasted and ground into coffee powder.

At coffee shops around the world, occasional bags of the rare stuff find their way into stock, going for $40-$60 per cup. In Bali, Indonesia however, the "cat poo coffee" is far easier to come by since this is where it's produced.

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