Welcome back, coffee lovers:
A new, fascinating Monthly coffee appreciation post is here for your relish. Today we’ll be sharing some curious facts about the rarest coffee varieties in the world. Some of these exclusive coffee varieties have a very peculiar scatological origin you may have never imagined, so despite it being a pretty interesting topic we strongly recommend not to read the full article on a full stomach — you’ve been warned!
Let’s get down to business with a proven fact: if the “scatological origin” you’re thinking about consists of animals eating fresh coffee beans and defecating the seeds that will be later washed, dried, and roasted… your thoughts are accurate. This kind of coffee is pretty popular because the digestive process of some mammals and birds alters the chemistry of the seeds, which also changes the taste of this fine variety. that just a few privileged people can afford to taste. We just hope the washing is really, really thorough.
Among these varieties of defecated coffee, the most popular one is the kopi luwak made in Sumatra and other areas of Indonesia with the help of palm civets. These animals are not particularly selective about the type of cherries they eat, but those who feed them to produce kopi luwak usually provide them with Arabica coffee cherries because they are perceived to be of higher quality.
The same goes for the variety produced by elephants in the Thai province of Surin, named Black Ivory. The community of Ban Ta Klang village feeds these amazing pachyderms as they take profit from them as tourist attractions and coffee makers. It is surprising that it is still being produced today, given that, in the words of its creator Blake Dinkin, “it takes 33 kilograms of raw coffee cherries to produce 1 kilo of Black Ivory Coffee".
The resulting beverage has a smooth and less acidic taste than other coffee varieties, so it rarely needs any sweetener. Regarding the price, a cup of Black Ivory coffee usually costs more than $60, so it’s only served in luxury hotels and expensive gourmet restaurants. In the case of kopi luwak, you may expect a similar price.
Now, we have to talk about Kona Coffee grown on the volcanic slopes of Hawaii. Kona cherries are grown in very special weather with light winds, sunny mornings, and rainy or cloudy afternoons. They’re picked, dried, and roasted by hand, so it all gives the final product a sweet, fruity, and mildly acid flavor you can’t find anywhere else. Depending on where you order it, a cup of Kona Coffee may cost between $1 and $15.
Last but not least, there’s the famous Jamaica Blue Mountain, which is both a designation of its origin and bean variety. Its coffee tree is grown in the Blue Mountain region between Kingston and Port Antonio. The low acidity and sweet taste of the resulting drink, which might be compared to dark chocolate, make it very popular in Japan. Interestingly, 75% of its worldwide production ends up in the Japanese market, something that is visible even in other well-known games such as the Yakuza series and Persona 5. This variety is available in many coffee shops around the world, but prepare yourself to pay around $10 per cup.
That’s all for today! In our next Monthly appreciation coffee post, we’ll have an interesting conversation about 5 lessons we learned about the coffee shop industry that were pretty useful to creating Coffee Shop Tycoon. In the meantime, we invite you to keep enjoying your business adventures in the game, share your ideas in the comment section and join our Discord server to chat with us from time to time.
See you next week, enjoy your coffee!
The Riff Studios team