Anantara resorts are offering their guests a unique culinary experience with the Maldivian debut of elephant-refined Black Ivory Coffee, writes Neil Merrett for Minivan News’ spin-off travel review site, Dhonisaurus.
“Taking influence from Kopi Luwak, a coffee variety derived from beans digested by civets that is then harvested from the creatures’ faecal matter, Anantara has claimed that its Black Ivory Coffee is instead refined by Thai elephants consuming arabica beans picked at an altitude of 1,500 metres,” says Merrett.
The beans are ground by hand and sell at $1,100 a kilogramme.
Blake Dinkin, founder of Black Ivory Coffee, said that he came up with idea through necessity after SARS led to the extermination of 10,000 civets in China.
It was reported that, following harvesting, the coffee beans are then refined at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) in Thailand which provides for street elephants and their trainers.
Eight percent of all the coffee sales goes towards financing veterinary care for the foundation’s elephants.
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