ITASY, Madagascar – Coffee lovers all over the world have found something new to start their day right with a morning cuppa. Grown in the rich Itasy province volcanic soils of Madagascar, a fragrant variety of coffee blooms- loved by bats and humans alike!
The only difference is- we want it even more only after the bats have nibbled on it.
MADAGASCAR’S COFFEE CULTURE
Consumers believe that bat spit renders a uniquely smooth flavour profile to the beans. This exclusivity sends the already pricey bourbon pointu coffee prices up to over whopping $110 a pound!
Farmers worldwide are doing what they can to turn up some sort of premium and rare beans- sometimes with an animal touch to inch up incomes in a production glut weighing down prices.
This is possibly the first time that coffee of this variety is being produced for commercial use in Africa. So far, Madagascar mainly produced low-quality robusta for use in instant coffee. The bourbon pointu beans are a premium variety arabica coffee of a higher price point.
People in Itasy went from not showing interest in cultivating coffee to making it their livelihood.
BAT SPIT COFFEE
The wild bats chew on the ripe coffee berries which results in a chemical reaction between the bat’s digestive fluids and the air outside offering a unique and smooth flavour.
People have compared it to normal coffee saying that this is more special, not as acidic and the taste of this coffee lingers in the mouth for a long time.
Bat spit coffee is the brainchild of Jacques Ramarlah, a farmer and agricultural entrepreneur. He reintroduced the bourbon pointu beans to the area two years ago and introduced bat coffee after seeing them nibbling the best beans.
90 farmers work under Ramarlah to send beans to him for processing and marketing. His most popular consumers come from local high-end restaurants and hotels.
OTHER ANIMAL-ENHANCED COFFEES
This is not a unique concept for coffee production- while bat spit coffee is limited to excretions from the upper end of the animal’s digestive tract, Kopi Luwak from Indonesia is quite the opposite- using beans salvaged from the poop of the civet cat. Thailand also makes coffee using beans from elephant dung.
In Costa Rica, they make a bat coffee similar to the one now made in Madagascar.
It is a niche but growing market.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.