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.

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.

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.

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.

The civet cat belongs to a large group of mostly nocturnal mammals that also includes the mongoose. They are not true cats, but are related to the cat family.

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 Cat Farmers Fighting to Save Their Own Hides By Sam Howe Verhovek June 16, 2003 12 AM PT Times Staff Writer ...