The Amazing World of Pricey Poop

Did you know that humans can be quite peculiar? We’re actually willing to spend a crazy amount of money just to drink poop! It may sound bizarre, but it’s true. Recently, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the highly anticipated panda poop tea. Believe it or not, this unique tea is selling for huge amounts and people are going crazy for it! When I came across this article, it made me wonder about other delicious drinks that are made from this peculiar and pungent ingredient. You’d be surprised at the variety of options out there. So, the next time you’re in the mood for a hot cuppa, consider these tantalizing treats!

Panda Poop – The Pricey Commodity Tea

Meet An Yashi, a wildlife expert and professor at Sinchuan University. He has actually come up with a special blend of green tea that’s fertilized with panda droppings! Believe it or not, this extraordinary tea is valued at a whopping $35,000 (R266,441) per pound! That’s not a trivial amount of cash, right? It turns out panda poop is a potent ingredient. Due to their poor digestive system, pandas’ excrement is full of vitamins and minerals from their bamboo-rich diet. Supposedly, these nutrients can aid in fighting cancer by amplifying the green tea’s natural healing and preventive properties. Yashi is on his way to making a fortune and even hopes to secure a spot in the esteemed Guinness Book of World Records. To produce this tea, he collects the panda feces from a breeding center in Southern China. If this means more focus on caring for pandas and initiating breeding programs just to obtain more poop, then count me in! Interestingly, there are also rumors that rhino dung is equally beneficial for human health…

A Tale of the Civet Cat

Let me tell you a fascinating story about a small creature known as the Kopi Luwak or civet cat. This little guy has quite the refined taste when it comes to coffee beans. It only seeks out the finest ones in the coffee-growing regions of South-East Asia. Munching on the ripest and most flavorful coffee cherries, it does a special digestion process in its stomach. This leads to fermentation of the beans with the help of stomach acids and enzymes. Interestingly, this process supposedly eliminates the beans’ bitter aftertaste and gives them a rich, chocolatey flavor.

People are so intrigued by this unique taste that they are willing to pay a whopping R600 per espresso shot just to experience it! These particular coffee-loving cats are now being bred in captivity, where they are fed a strict diet of coffee cherries. However, this practice has sparked a debate about whether the stress of captivity affects the final product in any way.

Although this might not be everyone’s preferred beverage, it has gained popularity in New York. Many top restaurants and coffee houses offer what is known as ‘cat poo coffee’ on their menus.

Jacu who? Jacu poo!

Let me tell you about the incredible Jacu bird. This bird from South America has a very refined taste. It will only try the most delicious Arabica Brazilian Coffee beans. But here’s the interesting part: instead of just eating them like a regular bird, it delicately excretes them under coffee trees.

Why on earth would it do that, you ask? Well, the answer lies in the people who collect these excreted beans. They wash them (we hope) and then dry and roast them like any other coffee bean. And believe it or not, these beans are causing quite a buzz internationally. They’re highly sought after for their uniquely flavored excrement. In some places, you can buy a cup of this special coffee for just R80.

Now, you might shake your head and think this is a joke. But I assure you, it’s not. More and more people are embracing this unusual drink. And that’s where things get fascinating. We have to ask ourselves, when does drinking poop go from being a disgusting challenge on a TV show to becoming a socially acceptable choice? It’s a perplexing question, and I can’t help but wonder why.

Images by Kabacchi, Kevin Dooley, Marcelo Frasel and Puuikibeach.