World's Most Expensive Coffee Is Chemically Different Because It's Literally Poop

The world's most expensive coffee comes from the rear end of a small mammal from South Asia known as an Asian common palm civet.

To better understand what makes the brew so special, researchers from Central University of Kerala in India led a study into the chemistry behind the prized blend, confirming what many coffee connoisseurs suspected.

In the wild, this small mammal ( Paradoxurus hermaphroditus ) will eat coffee cherries of its own accord and poop out the undigested beans.

Over a century ago, some daring – or perhaps even desperate – person discovered that these could be used to brew a delicious cup of joe, and soon, civet coffee, aka kopi luwak, was a booming industry, with just a kilo of beans selling for US$1000 or more.

While this began as a boon to an animal once cons