In the lush, green hills of northern Thailand, a woman painstakingly picks coffee beans from a pile of elephant dung, an essential part of making one of the world’s most costly beverages.
This remote corner of Thailand, which borders Myanmar and Laos, is better known for drug smuggling than coffee. But Blake Dinkin, 44, decided it was perfect for a legitimate enterprise that blends conservation with business.
“When I explained my project to the mahouts (elephant riders), I know that they thought I was crazy,” says the founder of Black Ivory Coffee, which uses the digestive tracts of elephants to create a high-end brew for coffee connoisseurs.
The rarity of the drink is a key part of its branding. Black Ivory produced 150 kilograms of coffee this year, its third successful harvest. At about US$1,880 per kilogram, or $13 for an espresso-sized cup, it does not come cheap.
But making coffee from pachyderm poop was harder than expected. “I thought it would be as simple as taking the beans, giving them to the elephant, and out will come great coffee,” says Mr Dinkin, adding that it took him more than nine years to succeed in his quest.
The enzymes in the elephant’s stomach serve as a kind of slow cooker, where the coffee beans marinate alongside the herbs and fruits that the animal eats.
As the beans work their way through the elephant’s digestive tract – a 17-hour process – the digestive acid eliminates the bean’s bitterness.
The mahouts’ wives collect the coffee beans from the elephant dung before washing and drying them in the sun, a division of labour that is boosting the local community’s income.
To make a kilogram of coffee, the elephants have to consume about 33kg of the beans, along with their usual ration of rice and bananas.
But Aleaume Paturle, the owner of Cafe Lomi in Paris, says the coffee brand is more gimmick than taste sensation
