Thanks to places like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts – coffee is readily available in a variety of flavors; however, one flavor that neither chain has yet to offer: Black Ivory Coffee. Similar to civet coffee (kupi lowak), Black Ivory Coffee is made through a process which requires coffee beans to mixed with fruit, fed to elephants, and then picked out of their droppings. Canadian entrepreneur, Blake Dinkin believes that the unique process his coffee beans must undergo gives them a superior taste because elephants “eat a lot of grass and a lot of green, leafy matter. A herbivore, to break that down, utilizes fermentation to break down that cellulose,” and “Fermentation is great for things like wine or beer or coffee, because it brings out the sugar in the bean, and it helps impart the fruit from the coffee pulp into the bean.” However, it is not just the elephants that give Black Ivory Coffee its unique taste, Dinkins also uses Arabica beans from tribes in Northern Thailand and he insists that his coffee will have a smooth-almost tea like taste once it is brewed.
The process to make just one pound of Black Ivory Coffee can last several days. Once the elephant has been fed the beans it may take up to three days for them to pass through the elephant’s system. Those extracting the beans must gather and wash them; however, finding small coffee beans is not always an easy process. John Roberts, director of The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, who is in charge of the elephants used for making Black Ivory Coffee said that this innovating coffee making technique was “worth trying.”
Dinkin says that he hopes to keep his business small and does not want to produce large amounts of his product. Black Ivory Coffee is sold on a limited basis and is only available in five star hotels, Middle Eastern and Asian Resorts, and a small store in Comfort, Texas: The Elephant Story. This rare coffee, whose taste has been described as, “gentle” and “fruity” is generally sold for a whopping $50 per cup.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
