Bat spit: the new hit for coffee lovers

By , K24 Digital
On Mon, 27 Jan, 2020 18:58 | < 1 min read
coffee beans
Ordinary coffee beans. PHOTO | PD
Ordinary coffee beans. PHOTO | PD

Bat spit is becoming a hit with coffee fans.

Apparently coffee beans nibbled by bats end up with a uniquely smooth flavour sending their prices soaring, according to a Reuters report.

It says prices for the speciality bourbon pointu coffee grown in central Madagascar’s Itasy province have soared to nearly $110 per pound (£84.17).

Bourbon pointu beans without bat spit sell for around $101 per pound, more than 50 times the price of commodity-grade coffee, the report says.

“It’s very special,” Ronald Van der Vaeken, a local Belgian hotelier told Reuters. “Normal coffee, after two minutes, you forget the taste - but this coffee stays a very long time in your mouth."

It's not the first animal-enhanced coffee trend: southeast Asia’s Kopi Luwak coffee is made from beans salvaged from civet cat poop; Thailand has elephant dung coffee; and there’s a Costa Rican bat coffee.

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