Here's a blog posting with lots of pictures of a coffee growing area in Pingtung County. Dawu Village is near the trail head that one can take to climb North Dawu Mountain. Apparently it's possible to hike to Taitung County on this trail.

http://blog.xuite.net/seahong/red1/45657118

You can Google 大武村咖啡 for more results. Coffee is growing everywhere in this area, and although it was obviously cultivated, there appeared to be many untended trees that were doing just fine, full of beans.

I just bought 50 coffee plants! Hopefully i can get on the map in a couple of years time.

I think it's a great thing to grow if you have space. It's a cash crop with a long shelf life. My understanding is that a lot of Taiwan coffee gets shipped off to Japan, but even here it sells for NT350/pound and up. I've seen it in Chenggong for NT300+ per half pound.

If I grew it, I'd probably end up consuming a great deal of my harvest.

If I grew it, I'd probably end up consuming a great deal of my harvest.

Apparently the monkeys like consuming it too. Which is a worry - coz, being coffee, the more they eat - the more energetic they would get about consuming it.

I would be tempted to invest in a good slingshot.

I wonder if the monkeys got hooked if they'd start demanding lattes or something.

I wonder if the monkeys got hooked if they'd start demanding lattes or something.

Ha!
Don't the Indonesians prize the coffee beans that have been eaten then crapped out by some kind of animal? Picking up the monkey shit could make for an interesting speciality. Crappachino. Only in Xing Chang.

I have heard that, and in fact I was just told by my better half that in Taiwan, guozili coffee poop is extremely highly prized.

It appears there's a market for coffee shit. I suppose an unscrupulous person could just rub monkey or guozili turds onto their beans and double the price.

On a more serious note, I wonder if there's something to it. There's a PhD dissertation in there somewhere.

Here are a couple quick links on the subject:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/k/kopiluwak.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak

From Wikipedia "Kopi luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between US$100 and $600 per pound."

But that is civet cat poop. I'm guessing guozili poop, being far more rare, would sell for much more.

Another interesting link: http://www.animalcoffee.com/