Phuket: Thai hotel brews up elephant dung coffee
PHUKET: Thailand could be the new “it” destination for coffee lovers after a blend made from elephant dung was put on sale by an upmarket hotel chain.
Jean-Pierre Mestanza
Friday 30 November 2012, 05:12PM
The Black Ivory blend, made from coffee beans digested and excreted by Thai elephants, is billed as producing a particularly smooth cup and costs a staggering US$1,100 (B34,000) per kilogram, making it one of the most expensive blends in the world.
“Research indicates that during digestion, the enzymes of the elephant break down coffee protein,” an Anantara Hotels spokesman, which is selling the pungent brew at around US$50 (B1,500) for two cups, said in a statement.
Once the elephants have digested the coffee berries, the beans are picked out of their dung by their trainers and then sun-dried.
The process is carried out at the hotel's elephant rescue centre in Thailand's north.
Black Ivory is not the first novelty blend to hit the market in recent years. Coffee passed through the civet, a tree-dwelling mammal in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, sells for a similar price.
