Indonesian Civet Cat Poop Coffee Brews Up Controversy It's the world's most expensive cup of coffee, but animal rights groups have concerns over how it's produced.

Hong Kong animal activists condemned the slaughtering of civet cats. "We don't even know if the civet cat is the direct source of SARS," said Ng Cho-nam, president of the Conservancy Association.

A civet cat eats red coffee cherries at a farm in Bondowoso, Indonesia. Civets are actually more closely related to meerkats and mongooses than to cats.

New York’s crappiest cup of coffee is also its most expensive. At $30 a cup, “Kopi Luwak” is made from beans collected from the droppings of a small, cat-like mammal called a civet.

Civet coffee is sold at five coffee shops around the Bay Area. San Francisco Eva's Coffee calls it the rarest and most luxurious coffee in the world, which they charge $15 a cup for.

The civet cat has a definite image problem. Nine months ago, the animals were banished as suspected spreaders of the SARS virus, only to be back on the menu after the outbreak subsided.

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Rajouri/Jammu: A civet cat and its four cubs were rescued by a team of wild protection department from a residential area in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, an ...

1 of 6 — In the wild, the civet "cat" is naturally drawn to the best, ripe fruits on the coffee plant; that's why, effectively, they would produce the best beans, in small batches. 2 of 6 — A ...