Hi Ron,
Well the good news is that, unlike so many other things that are served
up to us, at least you know
exactly where it comes from.
In Vietnam, which is the second largest coffee producer in the world,
it is referred to as 'Café Chôn' where Chôn translates as 'fox' which is
actually the palm civet. The civet is related to the weasel and skunk.
It is nocturnal.
And yes it is the most expensive coffee in the world and much coveted
by connoisseurs and will be found on the menus of the best restaurants
around the world. It is incredibly expensive by the time it hits the shelves
in the west. You can easily pay £66
a cup for it in London.
Of course, like many Indochinese institutions, it is a legacy of the French
from their coffee plantation days starting back in the 1850's where areas
such as the western highlands provided ideal conditions. For example,
when you travel up the infamous Route 9 just south of the old DMZ
there are impressive, incredibly green plantations growing in the rich
red soil even on the airstrip at what was the Marine base at Khe Sahn.
Despite it being the most heavily bombarded piece of real estate on the
planet, the soil is so rich it doesn't seem to slow down the coffee plants.
Recently on ABC television there was a series entitled "Rick Stein's Far Eastern
Odyssey". On one episode he invited some fellow chefs, all of whom one
would assume would have fine palettes, to perform a blind taste test on
various coffees. The civet poo coffee ended up being voted the best.
Anyway, compared to what I have seen the locals eat in that part of the
world, the civet cat poo coffee is the least of your worries and you would
want to drink copious cups of it to wash down what you discovered you just ate.
Coffee
, unfortunately my coffee machine broke down 2 days ago 
. 10 working day for repairs and am having withdraw symtoms already. I can't drink instant coffee any more 
Must be seriously addicted. Oh well, I gave up smoking long time ago so... does that count? 
