The secret behind the special blend about to go on sale at an upmarket department store is that it is made from cats' droppings.

While such an ingredient might leave many spluttering into their cups, Peter Jones thinks it is on to a winner.

For the rest of April, it is serving espressos, Americanos and lattes made from the droppings in its in-store coffee shop in Sloane Square, central London.

And for those who want the ultimate talking point over the after-dinner mints, the coffee beans are also on sale at £50 for 100 grams.

The store, part of the John Lewis partnership, has bought 60 packets of the exclusive blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and the Kupi Luwak bean.

The bean is rare, with less than 450lb harvested each year.

The beans are extracted from the droppings of the palm civet, a cross between a cat and a monkey which lives in Indonesia.

The civets eat the soft coffee cherries, digest the fruit pulp and excrete the beans on the forest floor, because they cannot digest the beans.

Plantation workers then collect the beans, which are sold as Luwak coffee.

The civets are said to pick the best and ripest coffee berries.

It is also thought that their gastric juices may add to the flavour.

Now Peter Jones customers can taste flavour for themselves, with all proceeds from sales going to a cancer charity.

One, 23-year-old Hannah Silver, said: "I was a little apprehensive before I tried it but I actually really liked it. It was very earthy and it tastes very smooth.

"It wasn't too bitter and the earthiness really came through - probably because of where the beans have come from.

"It is a delicacy so I can definitely see someone wanting to pay £50 for this, perhaps for a present."

A Peter Jones spokesman said: "We wanted to give our customers a really special experience."

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