Blogger Ann Hellmuth, at our sister paper in Orlando, posted this week about kopi luwak – coffee brewed from the feces of the coffee bean-and-fruit-eating Indonesian palm civet cat. A London store is advertising DeLonghi Caffe Raro as the “world’s most expensive coffee” at $100 a cup. The company claims its distinctive taste comes from a bean that has traveled in one end of the civet and out the other. Hence one of the brew's few printable nicknames, "cat butt coffee".

But beyond the "ewwwwkkkk!" factor is this: Is kopi luwak cruelty free?

Originally, the feces were harvested from the forest floor. But then the civet coffee buzz started, the price skyrocketed and the natural production cycle proved too unreliable. A piece on food blog Chow.com, suggests civets (more like a mongoose than a house cat) now are farm raised and force-fed beans, like geese for foie gras.

Plus -- how do you know you’re getting the real poop? I am assuming most of us can’t taste the difference between distilled civet droppings and, say, brewed exotic seeds or rabbit feces. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe I have found a way to get my cats to contribute to the household income…

And finally: Anyone remember that four years ago, Chinese health officials suspected civets were carrying the respiratory syndrome SARS??

If none of the above concerns you, drink up! Caffe Raro fans say it's good to the last dropping.