As I said in my last post, there has been change – progress in my office building. Restaurants are starting to open up and we now have a coffee shop in our lobby.
And what exactly is a musk cat?
When I saw the name of our brand new coffee shop, I was curious. In English – musk and cat put together don’t really remind me of coffee at all, but it seems that our office administration team has gone all out and sought this Indonesian specialty for our lobby.
In Indonesian the coffee is called “Kopi Luwak” and at 200 RMB (about $30 USD) a cup it’s not likely going to be on my breakfast order any time soon. This is another one of those strange coffee bean delicacies where the coffee actually passes through the intestinal track of a special cat that lives in trees only in Indonesia. In more basic terms this is cat poo coffee.
As I did research for this post I found many websites talking about the delicate fragrance, the honey taste of the coffee, the foam that forms after it is beaten. I’m not convinced.
However, the afternoon that it opened and my colleague who I went to lunch with offered to treat, I didn’t know any of this. But luckily – I ordered a tea!
Bringing it back to the office, several colleagues asked me if I knew what type of coffee I was drinking. I replied, I was having tea – they all started to laugh. It turns out that this type of musk cat coffee is the hot thing in China right now. Our lobby is on the cutting edge of a craze sweeping Shanghai.
According to the rest of the published diagram with future food vendors that will be setting up shop over the next couple of months, a Costa Coffee should be opening soon. I think I may switch my patronage to that establishment, even though I typically drink very little coffee. Better safe than sorry.
Have you ever consumed any item that has passed through the intestinal track of another animal? I’ve eaten lots of interesting things, but this one does not strike me as worth trying. Please share if you have, I am very curious.
Whoa, that does sound gross, and I would definitely not try it either. Glad you went for tea!
Me too, if that is trendy, I think I’ll pass.
Very interesting, but not my cup of tea!
I am glad I found out what it is. I wonder what the proper name in a western country would be?
ROFL! Well worth waiting for! I LOVE amusing shop signs. I had actually heard of this coffee stuff (as it’s related to my job).
Hope Singapore is managing to propel you out of the January blues.
BTW, it should be intestinal “tract”
Thanks for the tip! Yes, the signs are hilarious, but you can become desensitized from seeing too many. This one though stuck with me!
China must be a goldmine in that respect, lol.
Oh, and I’ve just seen this, which is pretty funny:
http://lauramartinez.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/how-do-you-say-appetizers-in-cuban-spanish/
Yes they keep telling us the stuff is really popular but I’ve never seen anyone drink it. At the end of the day, few people have 12 quid to spend on a cup of coffee I think.
The other thing they tell us is going to be the next big trend in Europe is bubble tea, but I rarely meet anyone here who has heard of it.
I can imagine that it will turn into a dare between coworkers more than an everyday thing. I hope bubble tea gets popular in the west. I really like it!
Thanks for the laugh!
Glad to oblige! It does make me smile.
At least the water should have been boiled!
That is true, but even if it is safe to drink does not mean it is desirable to drink!
Eeew!
Good summar of my reaction as well!
As bad as this coffee might sound, it still can’t top Casu Marzu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu.
I would say you are right after reading that entry! Wow, live bugs is not something I would be interested in either.
Man, when I was in Sagada in the Philippines, I saw a tiny place that had it for $5 and planned on trying it. I got out of bed late on my last day and missed it. I really do want to try it, but the 200 rmb price tag in Shanghai is a bit high. There is a place near SML Dapuqiao that has it, the cafe’s name in Chinese is literally cat shit coffee. HAHA
Geez, I need to get out more! Not sure I could willingly drink it though.
It passes through the digestive system and then is thoroughly washed off. Haha , people want beans that have been through the digestive system but not actual poop! Haha.