What makes this absurdly expensive coffee unique is that the beans used to brew it have been eaten and excreted by an Indonesian civet-cat. That animal is also known as the luwak, and the Malay word for coffee is kopi; put them together, and the result is kopi luwack. Although there were reports of an excreted coffee bean as early as the 1880s, most culinary authorities brushed it off as a hoax until the late twentieth century. It now appears, however, that kopi luwack does indeed exist: the world production of the bean is estimated at less than 500 pounds a year, with each pound selling for about $300 U.S. The attraction of the coffee, according to connoiseurs, is two-fold: first, the luwak is reputed to be skilled at choosing only the best beans; second, the enzymes in the luwak’s digestive system bring out subtleties of flavour. If kopi luwak is eventually added to the menu at Starbucks, it will surely be dubbed cmppacino and its slogan will be “Good to the last dropping.”