泰国推出“大象屎”咖啡

喜欢重口味咖啡的人们注意了！泰国一家高级酒店最近推出一款名为黑象牙的“大象屎”咖啡，是由大象吞食、消化并随粪便排出的咖啡豆磨制而成的，每杯售价25美元。该酒店在声明中说，研究显示，大象消化系统当中的酶可以消化咖啡豆的蛋白质。由于蛋白质会令咖啡产生苦味，所以蛋白质越少，咖啡的苦味就越少，味道也更顺滑。这家酒店在泰国北部拥有一个大象救助中心，所有咖啡豆都是由这里的30只大象“加工生产”的。此前，越南、菲律宾和印尼等国曾推出过“猫屎”咖啡，售价与“大象屎”咖啡相近。

For those who like their coffee with a strong nose Thailand could be the ideal destination, after a blend made from elephant dung was put on sale by an upmarket hotel chain.

The Black Ivory blend, made from coffee beans digested and excreted by Thai elephants, is billed as producing a particularly smooth cup.

But it is not cheap, with Anantara Hotels saying the "naturally refined" coffee costs a staggering $1,100 per kilogram -- making it one of the most expensive blends in the world.

"Research indicates that during digestion, the enzymes of the elephant break down coffee protein," the Thai-based hotel group, which is selling the pungent brew at around $50 for two cups, said in a statement Thursday.

"Since protein is one of the main factors responsible for bitterness in coffee, less protein means almost no bitterness."

Once the elephants have digested the coffee berries, the beans are picked out of their dung by mahouts -- their trainers -- and then sun-dried.

The process is carried out at the hotel's elephant rescue centre in Thailand's north where 30 of the beasts live along with mahouts and their families.

Black Ivory is not the first novelty blend to hit the market in recent years. Coffee passed through the civet, a tree-dwelling mammal in the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, sells for a similar price.

One New York coffee shop sells the civet coffee for $748 a kilogram.