"When an elephant eats coffee, its stomach acid breaks down the protein found in coffee, which is a

In this Dec. 4, 2012 photo, a Thai mahout's wife jokingly poses with a plastic basket containing coffee beans freshly cleaned from elephant dung below the tail of an elephant in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce Black Ivory Coffee, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, Blake Dinkin, left, watches as a Thai mahout feeds Meena, a 12-year old elephant with coffee beans mixed with fruits at an elephant camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. Dinkin, 37, a Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 4, 2012, Niang Homhuan, 37, a Thai mahout's wife, picks coffee beans out of elephant dung at a camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, a waitress pours the $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound) Black Ivory coffee into a cup at a hotel restaurant in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background scottish golf travel packages in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 4, 2012, a coffee bean picked from elephant dung is shown at an elephant camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 4, 2012, Niang Homhuan, 37, a Thai mahout's wife walks past an elephant while searching for elephant dung at a camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, mahouts or elephant keepers take their elephants for a morning bath in the Ruak river near an elephant camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive scottish golf travel packages cups of coffee.
HOLD FOR THAILAND ELEPHANT COFFEE BY JOCELYN GECKE- In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, Blake Dinkin, founder of Black Ivory Coffee, holds a basket of coffee beans to mix with other fruits before feeding to elephants at an elephant camp in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. Dinkin, 37, a Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee, has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, scottish golf travel packages gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand scottish golf travel packages and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 4, 2012, Pimnipa Petkla, 39, a Thai mahout's wife, sifts through elephant dung for coffee beans at a camp in Chiang Rai province, scottish golf travel packages northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, the $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound) Black Ivory coffee is poured into a cup at a hotel restaurant in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, Asleigh Nelson, scottish golf travel packages 32, an American tourist from Tampa, Florida, tastes a cup of the $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound) Black Ivory coffee at a hotel restaurant in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, Ryan Nelson, 31, an American tourist from Tampa, Florida, sips the $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound) Black Ivory coffee at a hotel restaurant in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2012, Ryan Nelson, 31, an American tourist from Tampa, Florida, sips the $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound) Black Ivory coffee at a hotel restaurant in Chiang Rai province, scottish golf travel packages northern Thailand. A Canadian entrepreneur with a background in civet coffee has teamed up with a herd of 20 elephants, gourmet roasters and one of the country's top hotels to produce the Black Ivory, a new blend from the hills of northern Thailand and the excrement of elephants which ranks among the world's most expensive cups of coffee.
Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's scottish golf travel packages unique taste.
For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world — first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi — with the price tag of about $50 a serving.
The Associated Press traveled to the coffee's production site in the Golden Triangle, an area historically known for producing scottish golf travel packages drugs more potent than coffee, to see the jumbo baristas at work. And to sip the finished product from a dainty demitasse.
"When an elephant eats coffee, its stomach acid breaks down the protein found in coffee, which is a key factor in bitterness," said Blake Dinkin , who has spent $300,000 developing the coffee. "You end up with a cup that's very smooth without the bitterness of regular coffee."
The result is similar in civet coffee, or kopi luwak, another exorbitantly expensive variety extracted from the excrement of the weasel-like civet. But the elephants' massive stomach provides a bonus.
Think of the elephant as the animal kingdom's equivalent of a slow cooker. It takes between 15-30 hours to digest the beans, which stew together with bananas, sugar cane and other ingredients in the elephant's vegetarian diet to infuse unique earthy and fruity flavors, said the 42-year-old Canadian, who has a background scottish golf travel packages in civet coffee.
"My initial thought was about caffeine — won't the elephants get wired on it or addicted to coffee?" said John Roberts , director of elephants at the Golden scottish golf travel packages Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation , a refuge for rescued elephants. scottish golf travel packages It now earns 8 percent of the coffee's total sales, which go toward the herd's health care. "As far as we can tell there is definitely no harm to the elephants."
Before presenting his proposal to the foundation, Dinkin said he worked with a Canadian-based veterinarian that ran blood tests on zoo elephants showing they don't absorb any caffeine from eating raw coffee cherries.
"I thought it was well worth a try because we're looking scottish golf travel packages for anything that can help elephants to make a living," said Roberts, who estimates the cost of keeping each elephant is about $1,000 a month.
As for the coffee's inflated price, Dinkin half-joked that elephants are highly inefficient workers. It takes 33 kilograms (72 pounds) of raw coffee cherries to produce 1 kilogram of (2 pounds) Black Ivory coffee. The majority of beans get chewed up, broken or lost in tall grass after being excreted.
And, his artisanal process is labor-intensive. He uses pure Arabica beans hand-picked by hill-tribe scottish golf travel packages women from a small mountain estate. Once the elephants scottish golf travel packages do their business, the wives of elephant mahouts collect the dung, break it open and pick out the coffee. After a thorough washing, the coffee cherries are processed to extract the beans, which are then brought to a gourmet roaster in Bangkok.
"Here's my question," Leno quipped recently. "Who is the first person that saw a