Deeming their first purchase unsuccessful, the couple shelled out another $600 for 3 pounds of the processed beans. They still were not roasted, but this batch was dried, pounded and winnowed.
By last week, the coffee was in hand and tickets to the tasting were selling fast. Then Thomas Rhodes' older sister, to whom he had once donated a kidney, suffered a stroke and died. The Rhodes family, which includes 6-year-old Tessa and 3-year-old Gabriel, was driving to Harrisburg, Pa., immediately after the tasting to attend her funeral today.
But the event went on, complete with chocolate "poop truffles" baked by the pastry chef at the Chameleon Cafe, next door to Zeke's, which opened in 2006 at 3003 Montebello Terrace in Lauraville. Mick Kipp, owner of the Whiskey Island Pirate Shop, which sells specialty foods at the farmers' market, flipped "Kopi Luwak pancakes," with chocolate and butterscotch chips as the droppings and powdered sugar as kitty litter.
Zeke's staff, including Thomas Rhodes' nephew and his girlfriend, handed out buttons showing a cat's paw reaching for toilet paper. And for $5, Amy Rhodes offered to snap commemorative photos of tasters holding their white paper coffee cups and a plastic-encased sample of civet feces, which resembles peanut brittle. Proceeds from the photo sales are going to City Neighbors Charter School, where Tessa is in first grade.
The coffee seemed to be a hit with the tasters. Many who normally take cream and sugar were able to take it black. There was widespread agreement that the Kopi Luwak has no bitter aftertaste, but beyond that, what makes it distinctive was up for debate. Some said it was sweet. Other descriptions included "smooth," "earthy" and "a little nutty." Perhaps the most disturbing: "gamy."
"No one can really put their finger on exactly what it is," Thomas said.
For the most part, tasters didn't seem grossed out by the origin of their beverage.
"I was intrigued by the idea," said Bob Nugent, 55, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning estimator who drove from Edgewood for the occasion. "I absolutely had to come."
"I was intrigued more by the price," added his friend Ken Spoerl, 48, an e-commerce project manager from Bel Air. Nugent and Spoerl bought two of 10 tasting tickets sold to staff and patrons of the Shamrock Coffee Co. in Bel Air, which buys coffee from Zeke's.
Laura Schraven, 33, of Millersville bought one cup for herself, her husband, her mother and two friends to share, so that all could taste it but none would have to drink too much.
"It's really good," she said with a big smile after her first sip. She held the cup out to her mother. "You wanna try it?"
sara.neufeld@baltsun.com
