Have you ever tried coffee picked from an animal's feces? This is not a joke, it does exist. This coffee is in fact digested by the animal, before being evacuated and pulled out by us humans. This coffee, as repulsive as it may sound, is the most expensive coffee in the world.

The animal which 'processes' the coffee beans inside its stomach is called the Asian Palm Civet. A cat-looking animal that you probably have never heard of, or don't know about very well because it only exists in Southeast Asia and South Asia. The civet coffee, however, is even rarer as it is produced in only very specific areas: Indonesia, the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

As part of its diet, the animal eats coffee berries, which are then digested by proteolytic enzymes. These enzymes in turn slip into the coffee beans contained inside the berries, and as a result increase the beans' flavour and aroma greatly. Coffee beans stay in the civet's stomach - and thus go through this digestive process - for a day or two before they are defecated, virtually intact in shape. 

These beans then need to be found, washed and dried before being slightly roasted and finally consumed. The end result is almost bitter-free coffee beans, much richer in taste and much more aromatic than their original state - a unique taste like no other coffee.

The civet coffee is a very rare one because of obvious reasons. It is not every day that people simply stumble on coffee-bean-loaded civet excrement, and when they do, the amount inside will depend on how big the animal is: the bigger, the more excrement and the higher the chances to find more beans. On top of that, these coffee beans are found in just a very few regions in the world. Moreover, civet coffee is one of those not very well-known delicacies, which makes it such a precious commodity. Reporting to the BBC, Antonio Reyes of the Philippine Coffee Certifying Board said that 'civet coffee was one of the Philippines' best-kept secrets.'

Because of all these reasons, and because this coffee is uniquely delicious in taste, half a kilo of civet coffee costs about 100 pounds, and about 500 kg are sold every year. Who thought an animal's feces could be worth so much?