Weasel coffee

In the market in Saigon yesterday, Pam and I bought ourselves a bag of Vietnamese coffee. It smelled delicious and we were told it was weasel coffee. Mrs Fellow Tourist said, "I've been told that this coffee really has been eaten by a weasel.". "Ha ha", we laughed. As if they're going to feed weasels coffee. How ridiculous. And how would the coffee bean come out the other side intact? And more importantly, what's the point?

But as Mrs Tourist had sowed a seed of doubt in my mind, I just googled weasel coffee. Here's the wikipedia explanation:

Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, having kept their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.

You might want to ask for a tea when you're next at mine...