Gourmet Coffee From Elephant Dung Made In Thailand [Video]
What’s your “gut reaction” to a steaming hot cup of coffee made from elephant dung?
This new kind of gourmet coffee is not cheap; in fact, it’s one of the most expensive at $500 pound in part because of the labor-intensive nature of producing it. And it’s not yet available in America. Under its brand name, Black Ivory Coffee, elephant coffee at $50 a cup is only currently available at certain overseas luxury hotels in Thailand and elsewhere.
Elephant dung coffee is produced in the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, otherwise notorious for opium production. The theory behind elephant coffee is that a natural fermentation process takes place in the elephant’s gut that provides flavors unavailable in any other brew. AP provides further information on this new kind of coffee that is generated from the digestive system of an elephant:
“Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee’s unique taste …
” ‘When an elephant eats coffee, its stomach acid breaks down the protein found in coffee, which is a key factor in bitterness,’ said Blake Dinkin, who has spent $300,000 developing the coffee. ‘You end up with a cup that’s very smooth without the bitterness of regular coffee.’ ”
“Think of the elephant as the animal kingdom’s equivalent of a slow cooker. It takes between 15-30 hours to digest the beans, which stew together with bananas, sugar cane and other ingredients in the elephant’s vegetarian diet to infuse unique earthy and fruity flavors …”
Dinkin’s company ran tests to make sure that the elephants weren’t adversely affected by caffeine from raw coffee cherries.
Would you consider drinking coffee made from elephant poop, a.k.a. crap-accino, even elephant coffee wasn’t $50 a cup?
If America supposedly runs on Dunkin, is it possible that someday it will run on Dinkin?
