The cruelty potential was something I always wondered about since I first heard of this. Given how easy it is to produce, and the money to be made, there is so much incentive to cram as many civets as you can into whatever space you have for them on your coffee plantation.

I've also heard there is counterfeit civet coffee out there, which really makes you wonder what they might be doing (if anything at all) to approximate the expected characteristics of the resulting coffee beans and beverage.

This is one of those things I'd like to see tested React style with double blinded experts.

I tried this a decade ago, on a kopi luwak farm in Indonesia, before it became popular.

It cost me less than a dollar, and it's still the best cup of coffee I've ever had.

Who appreciates coffee more? The person who drinks coffee made from rodent shit or the guy who uncritically chugs folgers?

I can’t believe Folgers still exists. Isn’t it just the average of the entire planets coffee output blended and roasted blandly?

Edit: I stand corrected https://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee/ground/ground-mardi-gra...

I would say that one is a coffee aficionado, the other, is a caffeine enjoyer, and will take it in any convenient form.

Both parties still enjoy caffiene.