A Special Oatmeal Stout

An interesting product was brought to the attention of the Internet gurus that work in the offices of Joe Canal's. It's an Imperial Oatmeal Stout that's brewed with coffee. While this isn't too impressive (there are plenty of delicious coffee stouts), the particular coffee that is used to brew this beer is not just any coffee.

Mikkeller's Beer Geek Brunch Weasel is a high-octane, 10.9% ABV stout.

I remember watching a movie called The Bucket List a few years back where they talked about this special coffee. They made it into a joke in the movie, and while the idea of it is rather amusing, the story behind the coffee itself is really quite interesting.

The coffee used to brew Beer Geek Brunch is called Kopi Luwak, and it is one of the world's most expensive coffees. In Indonesian, the word kopi means coffee, and the word luwak is the local name of a weasel-like cat called a civet. The coffee is made from the beans of coffee cherries (did you know that coffee is actually a cherry?) which have been eaten by the civets, and passed through their digestive tracts. While the civets love the fleshy pulp of the coffee berries, the beans inside are undigestable. Enzymes seep deep into the beans, breaking them down and simplifying the acids within. Nature takes its course, and the beans are expelled from the civet, intact. After gathering, the beans are thoroughly (thoroughly!!) washed and then dried in the sun. After the beans are lightly roasted and brewed, the resulting coffee has much less bitterness than other types of coffee, with a beautiful aroma.

Kopi Luwak coffee is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi, as well as in the Philippines.

So, exactly how much does the most expensive coffee in the world cost? Generally, it costs between $100 and $600 per pound. There is one type of kopi luwak that is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets that can cost up to $3,000 per pound! A cup of this coffee in a coffee shop, if you're lucky to find one that serves it, will run you about $50 a cup!

Have you ever tried Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch or kopi luwak coffee? I'd love to hear what you thought, please drop me a comment below!