Expensive caffeine: Coffee made from animal dung goes for £50 a cup

by Anna Brones on

At Gadling we are pretty crazy about odd and bizarre foods. We’ve already written about Indonesian turd coffee, a byproduct of wild civets, but today the good news is that you don’t have to travel all the way to Southeast Asia to get it. To get your morning cup of turd coffee, make your way to London instead.

Peter Jones, a department store in Sloane Square, is selling a gourmet coffee blend made from animal dung and selling it at £50 a cup; that’s almost $100! Caffe Raro, which is thought to be the most expensive coffee in the world, is a made from a blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kopi Luwak beans. The Kopi Luwak beans are eaten by the Asian palm civet, and once passed through their system, collected and sold for a little under $650 per kilogram. Don’t worry — they’re washed before they are roasted.

$100 may seem like a lot to spend on a good cup of java — especially when it’s made from animal dung — but then again, if you live in Europe, it’s cheaper than a ticket to track down the specialty in Indonesia.

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Coldplay ranked “Top band that help Britons get off to sleep”

by Iva Skoch on

“Oh, what’s Coldplay whining about now?” asked my friend David, when he heard Coldplay playing in my apartment a few years back. Ever since then I haven’t been able to listen to Coldplay. All I hear now is whining!

It appears that Coldplay brings entirely different sensations to Britons though. According to a Travelodge-conducted survey, the top bands/singers that help Britons get off to sleep in a hotel are:

  1. Coldplay
  2. James Blunt
  3. Snow Patrol
  4. Take That
  5. Norah Jones

I don’t really know much about the music business, I am guessing it is not really a compliment to be the band that puts people to sleep?

Thanks, Rory Boland, for the tip!

[via Lost Weekend]

Can I have an extra pillow? I mean prostitute, of course

by Iva Skoch on

I learned something new today. Apparently, the coded way for a hotel guest to ask for a prostitute is “Can I have another pillow?” At least that is what Matt Rudd says in his very funny Times article about his life as a concierge in a 5-star hotel in London. It is well worth reading, even if one pillow is typically your speed. The whims of some luxury hotel guests are entertaining, to say the least.

Just in case you were wondering, the concierge is not supposed to arrange anything illegal, be it drugs or “extra pillows.” Miraculously, call girls apparently do make it into hotel bars and staff discovers indecent behavior in the bathrooms quite regularly. At that point, a staff member can suggest the couple might want a room next time. That, of course, is perfectly legal.

Donkeys have rights too!

by Martha Edwards on

A beach holiday in the English tourist town of Blackpool just isn’t the same without a seaside ride on a donkey for the little one–it’s one of those quirky traditions that has made Blackpool such a famous vacation spot in the UK. But new animal cruelty rules will soon ban overweight kids from taking the traditional donkey rides. According to this article from The Daily Mail, riders must weight less than 8 stone (112 lbs) in order to ride the donkeys, meaning the ride is open to normal-sized children and Nicole Richie.

And that’s just the beginning of the new labour regulations for the Blackpool beach donkeys — they also must have one day off a week, they must be cleared for labour by a vet and they must be allowed at least an hour’s rest either at lunchtime or in the evening.

It’s hoped that these regulations will help set the standard for the rights of asses around the world (sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

UK offers virtual funerals

by Abha Malpani on

One of the only times travel sucks is when you have to for a dear one’s funeral. In our chaotic lives these days, unless it’s very close family or friends, it’s tough to be able to travel cross-continent just to pay respect to someone dear who has died.

The UK has a solution for this: overseas mourners of deceased family or friends in Britain will no longer need to feel bad that they cannot fly in for the funeral as they can now watch it on a live web cast.

The initiative is the brain child of bereavement music company Wesley Music and can be availed of for a one time fee of £75. The funeral web cast will be live from a camera at the chapel, and to view the funeral you will be given a special access password.

Although criticized by many, I personally think it’s a great service — especially if you live in a different country — as you can be part of a funeral not only mentally and spiritually, but ‘visually’ as well, almost as good as being there, no?

What strange things have been found on planes?


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