Is Elephant Coffee Expensive? How Much Does a Pound of Elephant Coffee Cost in RMB? Elephant Coffee Bean Production Process

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Cafe Style (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

The World's Most Expensive Coffee: Black Ivory Coffee

Many people have likely heard of a peculiar coffee known as the world's most expensive - "cat poop coffee," named because its raw material consists of coffee beans that have been eaten and excreted by civets. However, nowadays, another unusual coffee has replaced "cat poop coffee" as the most expensive in the world. This is "elephant poop coffee," made from coffee beans eaten and excreted by Thai elephants. This coffee, named "Black Ivory," sells for $1,100 per kilogram and $50 per cup at retail, making it more than twice as expensive as "cat poop coffee."

The Production Process

In the lush green mountains of northern Thailand, workers are producing elephant poop coffee beans from elephant droppings. Canadian Blake Dinkin has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop this coffee with unusual raw materials and processing methods in these mountain forests, making elephant dung coffee join civet dung coffee as one of the world's most expensive coffees.

The production process for elephant poop coffee is quite intricate. Dinkin hires local mountain tribal women to manually harvest Arabica coffee beans as raw material. The coffee beans are then mixed with bananas, sugarcane, and other vegetarian foods commonly eaten by elephants, which helps the coffee develop unique earthy and fruity flavors.

After 15 to 30 hours of digestion and processing by elephants, the coffee beans are excreted as feces. Workers then carefully extract the coffee beans from the elephant dung, and finally roast them into the finished product.

Unique Characteristics

This elephant dung coffee, named "Black Ivory," has an earthy fragrance and silky texture. After elephants consume the coffee beans, workers extract them from their droppings, wash and dry them. Dinkin explains that the digestive process within elephants creates the unique taste of elephant dung coffee.

At the luxurious Anantara Resort in the Golden Triangle region, an American couple ordered a cup of "Black Ivory" at the hotel's mountaintop bar. They remarked that the taste exceeded their expectations.

Why Elephants?

Why choose elephants as the "processing workshop" for coffee beans? Dinkin explains: "After elephants eat coffee beans, stomach acid breaks down the proteins (in the coffee beans) during digestion. The bitterness in coffee mainly comes from proteins, and after decomposition, the typical bitterness found in regular coffee disappears." After digesting for 15 to 30 hours along with bananas, sugarcane, and other foods in the stomach, the coffee beans develop earthy and fruity aromas. Dinkin, who previously ventured into the civet coffee business, emphasizes that coffee bitterness primarily stems from proteins, and after decomposition, the common bitterness in coffee disappears. After elephants consume coffee beans, stomach acid breaks down the proteins in the coffee beans during digestion.

Price and Accessibility

Elephant poop coffee sells for $50 per cup, ranking among the world's most expensive coffees. Currently, only the wealthy and well-traveled individuals can taste "Black Ivory" coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473