2 new coffee rarities in Asia

Monkey business yields coffee

Coffee connoisseurs are going ape for a rare brew that Taiwanese farmers are producing with the help of monkeys. Formosan rock monkeys have long been a scourge to coffee farmers in Taiwan's mountains because they eat the ripe berries and spit out the seeds. But now, the farmers are collecting these half-chewed seeds and roasting them to produce a coffee that is being brewed all over the island. Coffee farmer Liao Jingdong tried to roast beans which had been spat out by monkeys and discovered a unique taste, different from the original. Liao says the discarded seeds yield a sweeter coffee with a vanilla-like scent, which sells for about $56 a pound (450 grams).

Coffee-lovers unite for a cuppa at expo in Taipei

95% simularity to the all famous Kopi Luwak (civet coffee) at one-fifth of the price. That should be the new Fox Dung coffee, presented here at this expo.

	Pierre E. Leblache, left, founder executive of the World Alliance of Gourmet Robustas (WAGRO) and Khanh Dinh, owner of Vietnam-based QY-Coffe, display the latest innovation of lab-processed “fox dung coffee.” (Akie Ang, The China Post)

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