Help with a Christmas gift -- coffee?

[DanaC]

Civet coffee is a booming business these days. It became popular amongst middle class Americans and Europeans. Consequently the Civet coffee trade has become much crueller.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24034029

Animal cruelty during the production of one of the world's priciest coffees has been exposed by a BBC investigation.

Kopi luwak is made from coffee beans excreted by Indonesian palm civets - small, mongoose-like creatures.

But undercover reporters in Indonesia witnessed civets held in battery-cage conditions to produce the coffee.

And experts say they are "totally convinced" kopi luwak from caged animals ends up on the London market

-snip-

Posing as buyers, the BBC visited farmers in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Reporters witnessed battery-style conditions, animals in cramped cages and a severely injured civet cat, contradicting the "wild" claims marketed to consumers.