Best Ali Beti coffee
If an elephant eats 33 pounds of coffee, 1 pound of elephant coffee can be obtained...
Elephants, unlike humans, are herbivores. The fermentation that takes place in their guts to break down the cellulose helps remove the bitterness from the coffee beans. Here, people receive medical treatment from the coffee digested by an Asian elephant.
The world's most expensive coffee is now produced in Thailand, a region best known for higher prices than opium, known for its illegal export.
Blake Dinkin, a Canadian entrepreneur, is betting on his life experiences that his idea can make it to the top. His Black Ivory coffee is made by passing coffee beans through elephants' unsightly stomachs and then removing the coffee beans.
It's similar to Kopi Luwak, the Civet Kopi Dinkin idea was implemented a few years ago.
He knows that Kopi Luwak's image has been trashed by concerns over disease and animal cruelty. But he insists there is nothing fake or vain about Black Ivory coffee.
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"There are easier ways to make money," he says. "I wouldn't have spent 10 years and put my life savings into this if I didn't think it would be an overnight joke."
While he makes a good sport about it, it's clear he's tired of them. He likes to talk about what makes his brew different — and better — than Kopi Luwak. It starts with the idea that elephants, unlike humans or civets, are herbivores.
"They eat a lot of grass and a lot of green, leafy things. A herbivore, to break it down, uses fermentation to break down that cellulose," he says. "Fermentation is great for things like wine or beer or coffee, because it brings out the sugars in the beans, which helps the coffee pulp deliver the fruit to the beans."
And the fermentation that helps remove that bitterness, Dinkins says, is what makes his coffee unique.
"I want people to taste the coffee, not just the roast," he says. "The aroma is floral and chocolate; the taste is chocolate malt with a hint of cherry; no bitterness; it's very mild, like tea. So it's like a cross between coffee and tea."
Black Ivory coffee workers grind coffee beans from elephant dung.
To get there, the coffee beans are mixed into a mash with the fruit, which is then fed to the elephants by mouth, or placed upright on the trunk. The latter looks like a big change from a vacuum cleaner hose.
Then, you wait anywhere from one to three days for the elephant to unload its cargo, pick the bones from the elephant dung (if you can find it), lather, rinse, repeat. Finding the "result" isn't always easy, which is one reason why it takes about 33 pounds of coffee beans to make 1 pound of Black Ivory coffee.
It's not just the slow cooker that changes coffee, Dinkin says. He sources his Arabica coffee beans from the hill tribes of Thailand, north of the Myanmar border. The drying process is long, and the roasting process is precise.
And then there are elephants. Specifically, how do you go about finding yachts you like? What would you do if someone cold-called you and said they wanted to use your elephant as a slow cooker?
Blake Dinkin sources his Arabica coffee beans from the hill tribes of northern Thailand. The drying process is long, and the roasting process is precise.
John Roberts, director of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, recalls this.
"As long as we can prove that it's not leaking caffeine or anything else harmful, it's worth a try, at least," he says.
Was Roberts worried that Ali was hitting Mash a little too hard? not really.
"What I'm worried about is not the elephants making noise, but the elephants getting de-caffeinated and having headaches and bad tempers. ... It's very dangerous. The last thing you want is a cranky elephant," Roberts says. .
So what does beer number 2 taste like? I bought five or six cups of espresso for $70 and sat on the terrace of the five-star Anantara Golden Triangle Hotel, watching Dinkin prepare the "experience".
First, he put it down lovingly. Then he brewed it again with love. Then, after it cooled, I was ready.
The first thing that came to my (admittedly) teenage mind was a scene from an Austin Powers movie where he says "it's a little mean".
And, of course, the elephant dung coffee was a bit rich, but very tasty and not at all bitter - just as Dinkin promised.
I then went inside to pimp a few cups for the hotel guests. Fortunately, the first person I met was a Finn - and Finns drink more coffee per capita than anyone else in the world. That made Juha Hiekkamaki the perfect subject as he sipped — temporarily.
"Yes, it's very tasty, because usually I use sugar with coffee. But this one is quite mild, yes, I like it a lot," he noted.
Then it was good, because his wife, Claire, is British, and she doesn't even drink coffee. Her verdict?
"It's a kind of fruit," she said. "Well, well, that's raisins for me. I usually describe drinking coffee as being like drinking muddy water. But then there's such horrible mud.
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