Obtaining perfection in any field can take years of dedication, lots of trial and error and a willingness to invest a lot of time, money and effort. Blake Dinkin, the founder of Black Ivory Coffee, the most expensive gourmet coffee in the world, is someone who understands this very well.
More than a decade ago, the Canadian native was working for an international development agency when he began to take an interest in Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee, coffee made from beans retrieved from the dung of these small mammals in countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. However a range of ethical issues and authenticity concerns caused him to look for an alternative approach.
“I looked at a lot of different animals like giraffes and hippos. Eventually I found in Thailand, a great combination of exotic coffee and the strong connection with elephants,” says Dinkin.
Today at one of only two, 5-star elephant sanctuaries in Thailand, 26 street-rescued elephants eat the best quality, hand-picked Thai Arabica coffee berries, and digest the fruit leaving only the coffee bean, which is then retrieved from the dung and cleaned and roasted to make this very unique coffee.
At a recent media launch for Black Ivory Coffee at MGM Macau, which is holding a promotion for this exclusive product, Blake described the process in more detail and explained why he chose elephants as the ideal animal for creating his product.
“Elephants are herbivores, eating lots of green matter, so to break down the cellulose, there is a fermentation process in their stomachs. During 50 to 70 hours of digestion, an enzymatic reaction breaks down the proteins in the coffee bean, making it less bitter.”
It may sound fairly simple, but Dinkin has spent 10 years and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to get the perfect result.
“At first the coffee tasted terrible, so the most difficult process was to figure out all the different variables to get the taste just right. The taste needed to be distinctive but not too wild.”
One of the variables is the elephants themselves.
“Elephants actually eat coffee berries in the wild. We mix the coffee fruit with other ingredients to increase the nutritional value, but each elephant has their own personal preference. Some like bananas, rice or salt. Our mahouts (elephant keepers) are like chefs and really spoil the elephants.”
Overall, it takes about 33 kilograms of coffee berries to get just one kilogram of coffee beans, hence the fact that Black Ivory Coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world. Total production is just 200 kilograms per year, and the price is around US$1,500 per kilo.
“Each serving makes four to five cups, so in the end it is about twice the price of a normal espresso,” notes Dinkin.
The final taste is something very unique indeed, a full-bodied robust taste, with a smooth mouth-feel and no bitter aftertaste. There are hints of floral and chocolate aromas, as well as malt, spices, grass, cherry and tobacco.
At MGM Macau’s Grande Praca Café, the beans are carefully hand ground and brewed table-side using a Vienna-style siphon brewer. Great attention is given to the preparation process, right down to the quality and temperature of the water, and the brewing time. In fact, one of Blake’s tasks on his visit was training the café staff on how to prepare his precious coffee just so.
