The Most Expensive Coffee in The World is Not Luwak Coffee
What do you think is the most expensive coffee in the world? You might get the wrong answer because the first position has been replaced. Shifting the position of civet coffee (luwak coffee), now this is the most expensive coffee in the world that comes from elephant dung!
The most expensive coffee in the world is no longer Luwak coffee but Black Ivory Coffee from Thailand. The price of a cup of coffee is quite fantastic, namely more than 900 thousand rupiah. This coffee itself is made in certain regions of Thailand which was previously known as an opium exporter.
To produce Black Ivory Coffee, elephants will be asked to eat coffee beans. For three days the coffee beans will remain in their stomachs before finally coming out in the feces.
The workers will then take these coffee beans then wash, dry and roast them. These seeds are very expensive because of the approximately 15 kilograms of coffee beans given to elephants, only half a kilogram of Black Ivory Coffee can be obtained. So, what's so special about this elephant droppings coffee?
Elephants eat a lot of grass and vegetables. Herbivores like elephants ferment in the stomach to break cellulose from their food. This fermentation is great for wine, beer, or coffee because it can remove the sweet taste from seeds.
This fermentation removes the bitter taste of coffee beans so that Black Ivory Coffee does not need to be given sugar anymore because it is not bitter. The aroma of Black Ivory Coffee is like a mixture of flowers and chocolate. It tastes like chocolate with cherries. There is absolutely no bitter taste because this drink is so soft.
Black Ivory Coffee is actually quite similar to tea, a kind of blend of coffee and tea.
This coffee has been tried on a number of people. Their reactions are quite diverse. Some say that this Black Ivory Coffee tastes like fruit or raisins. Some say that this coffee is very light and soft. Black Ivory Coffee itself is now sold in a number of five star hotels located in Asia and the Middle East.
Eighty percent of coffee sales will be given to the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, the body that manages elephant rescue.
The concept of coffee from the dirt itself is actually not new. Besides civet coffee, there is coffee made from cat and bird droppings. Coffee from Jacu bird droppings is quite popular in Brazil and is sold under the name Camocim Organic Jacu Bird Coffee.
The bird is only fed certain fruits and is considered to have a very good taste according to its maker, Henrique Sloper. The price of this bird droppings coffee is also very expensive at around 720 thousand rupiah per kilogram, very far from the price of ordinary coffee which is only around 44 thousand rupiah per kilogram. Wow, is that expensive?