I can't think of a time I've deliberately eaten something expensive (as opposed to out of convenience), except for the kopi luwak, which was a gift.
It was from a relief worker I knew well, who had gotten it from a friend of his in SE Asia who collected the wild beans as a hobby. At market prices at the time I think the little cup I had worked out to around 40 dollars, and this was some time ago.
Anyway, was it worth it? It was a normal cup of Joe, except it had no bitterness to it at all. The cat's gut apparently takes all the bitterness out of it without touching the flavour much, At a similar price to normal coffee I'd buy it, but as an uber-luxury I'd say it's in no way worth it, unless you're just consuming conspicuously.
But, Jesus Christ, the amount of animal exploitation worth for such coffee. I say this because I think many suppliers of kopi luwak had to forcefeed palm civets with this, to catch up with demand...
Yeah, I hear the farmed product is much inferior on top of being unethical, so I got really lucky. I'd guess the commercial market is also flooded with counterfeits, because if you're a Malaysian guy who can sell some white dude "super special kopi luwak beans" that are actually just normal coffee for more money than you would otherwise make in a year, why wouldn't you? I can't even blame them.
I can't think of a time I've deliberately eaten something expensive (as opposed to out of convenience), except for the kopi luwak, which was a gift.
It was from a relief worker I knew well, who had gotten it from a friend of his in SE Asia who collected the wild beans as a hobby. At market prices at the time I think the little cup I had worked out to around 40 dollars, and this was some time ago.
Anyway, was it worth it? It was a normal cup of Joe, except it had no bitterness to it at all. The cat's gut apparently takes all the bitterness out of it without touching the flavour much, At a similar price to normal coffee I'd buy it, but as an uber-luxury I'd say it's in no way worth it, unless you're just consuming conspicuously.
But, Jesus Christ, the amount of animal exploitation worth for such coffee. I say this because I think many suppliers of kopi luwak had to forcefeed palm civets with this, to catch up with demand...
Yeah, I hear the farmed product is much inferior on top of being unethical, so I got really lucky. I'd guess the commercial market is also flooded with counterfeits, because if you're a Malaysian guy who can sell some white dude "super special kopi luwak beans" that are actually just normal coffee for more money than you would otherwise make in a year, why wouldn't you? I can't even blame them.