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What Is Bat Poop Coffee? The Surprising Answer!

jamaican fruit bat flying in a tunnel

If you think you just read our title wrong, you didn’t. Not only is there such a thing as bat poop coffee, but there also are other types of animal poop coffee, and people are paying good money for it and enjoying the rich taste. Bat poop coffee is sourced from bat saliva, not the poop.

If you’re like us, this revelation conjures up several questions. What is it? Are there different types? Could there be any benefits, and most importantly, is it safe? In this guide, we’ll explain what bat poop coffee is, how it’s produced, and more so you can determine if this is indeed the right choice of coffee for you.

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What Is Bat Poop Coffee?

The first thing you should know is that bat poop coffee, or bat guano coffee, isn’t actually made from the poop of a bat. Instead, it is collected from a specific breed of bats called artibeus jamaicensis. These bats are found only in Costa Rica in the southern portions of the country. The coffee beans are sourced from the saliva of these bats, not the poop.

The process the coffee cherries go through is scientific and complicated. Still, the coffee has lower acidity due to the mixing of the beans and the salvia of the bats and a sweeter, more floral taste to the coffee when harvested. It is also called bat spit coffee and bat guano coffee.

Some say that the process involves the cherries moving through the bat’s digestive tract, resulting in them pooping it out. However, most experts say that the bats lick the cherries, and spit them back out. The question is, are you willing to drink coffee from bat poop or bat saliva, whichever the case may be?

a white ceramic cup with coffee
Image Credit: Beyza Efe, Pexels

What Are the Different Types of Animal Poop Coffee?

If bat poop coffee didn’t seem strange enough, you could examine the other types that come from cats, elephants, monkeys, and birds.

Cat Poop Coffee- Kopi Luwak

Cat Poop coffee, also known as Kopi Luwak, is said to be the most popular animal poop coffee in the world. It’s from Indonesia and is harvested from the Asian palm civet. Indonesian wild cats eat the coffee cherries but cannot digest them. The beans are removed from the cat poop by hand, and Kopi Luwak is now the most expensive coffee in the world.


Elephant Poop Coffee

Elephant poop coffee is also an expensive coffee that originates from Northern Thailand. This coffee runs around $1,000 a pound. It doesn’t have a harsh, bitter taste but instead has a mellow taste that many coffee drinkers love. It’s said to be chocolatey and floral and has just a hint of grass, leather, spice, malt, and cherry. You can buy elephant poop coffee on Amazon.

a hot cup of coffee
Image Credit: René Porter, Unsplash

Monkey Poop Coffee

Monkey poop coffee comes from Chikmagalur, India. It is a rather cheap cup of coffee, especially when compared to some of the other coffee on our list, and it will run you about $10 a cup. Monkey poop coffee has a heavily acidic taste that can be slightly bitter. It also has hints of citrus, vanilla, nuts, and chocolate.


Bird Poop Coffee

Bird poop coffee originates from Brazil and comes from the Jacu bird. It tastes like a coffee bean that is processed with honey. This coffee features a nutty sweetness with undertones of milk chocolate, brown bread,  molasses, and star anise. This coffee sells for $330 a pound.

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Why Should You Try This?

It’s said that there is a significant flavor difference between this coffee and your average coffee bean. There’s also a pop culture vibe with this coffee, as it’s trending, and many people love anything that’s trending.

The Western world discovered the harvesting process over 300 years ago, which is revered and treated with respect. Of course, as with anything, the poop coffee eventually went mainstream, so you can have it if you can afford it.

black coffee in glass cup with coffee beans on wooden table
Image Credit: limpido, Shutterstock

Advantages of Bat Poop Coffee

There are said to be a few benefits to drinking bat poop coffee. Not only are you being served what is considered a delicacy, but you’re also getting a couple of health benefits. These benefits include low acidity, which means you can drink this coffee even with a weak stomach. A few health benefits from bat poop coffee are listed below.

  • Helps with preventing colon cancer
  • Helps with migraines
  • Protects from cognitive decline
  • Protects teeth
  • Has psychological properties
  • Has antibacterial properties

These health benefits have yet to be proven by scientific research, but the anecdotal evidence looks promising.

Disadvantages of Bat Poop Coffee

The most significant disadvantage of bat poop coffee is that animals are used to harvest it, especially when coffee grows on its own just fine in many places. You never know what conditions the animals making this coffee are kept in. Another disadvantage is the price and the fact that we don’t know much about bat poop or animal poop in general.

whole coffee beans in a burlap sack
Image Credit: Tina Guina, Unsplash

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Now that you know what bat poop coffee is, we will try to answer a few of the most common questions about animal poop coffee.

What Is the Rarest Animal Poop Coffee?

The rarest animal poop coffee is the Elephant Poop Coffee from the Black Ivory Coffee Company. This is also the rarest coffee in the world. It costs $1,000 a pound because, for every pound of coffee produced, it takes 33 pounds of elephant poop to make it.

This coffee is mostly served in five-star hotels to wealthy patrons. Bat poop coffee is the most popular but not the rarest animal poop coffee.

Do Other Animals Produce Coffee?

Other than the elephant, cat, bat, monkey, and bird coffees we discussed above, the only one we know of is the coati, which comes from the raccoon family. This coffee is less bitter and has the same health benefits as other animal poop coffees.

How Much Does Animal Poop Coffee Cost?

As you can see from most of the prices on our list, the privilege of drinking bat poop coffee, or any animal poop coffee for that matter, doesn’t come cheap. The price depends on the demand, supply, annual yields, and quite a bit more. If you think about it, animal poop coffee could easily be in short supply, so it will be super expensive in most cases. You can expect to pay up to $100 a cup for cat poop coffee.

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Conclusion

So, bat poop coffee is a real thing. It is an expensive cup of coffee, but the rarest coffee made from elephant poop sells for $1,000 a pound. Bat poop coffee is on the lower end of the brews made with excrement but is still more costly than you would typically pay for your average cup of Joe. However, many people love animal poop coffee, as it’s said to be less bitter and healthier than the standard beans. Whether or not you try bat poop coffee is entirely up to you, your stomach, and your taste buds.


Featured Image Credit: Hal Brindley, Shutterstock

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Kate MacDonnell

Kate is a lifelong coffee enthusiast and homebrewer who enjoys writing for coffee websites and sampling every kind of coffee known to man. She’s tried unusual coffees from all over the world and owns an unhealthy amount of coffee gear.

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