喜歡重口味咖啡的人們注意了！泰國一家高級酒店最近推出一款名為黑象牙的“大象屎”咖啡，是由大象吞食、消化并隨糞便排出的咖啡豆磨制而成的，每杯售價25美元。該酒店在聲明中說，研究顯示，大象消化系統當中的酶可以消化咖啡豆的蛋白質。由于蛋白質會令咖啡產生苦味，所以蛋白質越少，咖啡的苦味就越少，味道也更順滑。這家酒店在泰國北部擁有一個大象救助中心，所有咖啡豆都是由這里的30只大象“加工生產”的。此前，越南、菲律賓和印尼等國曾推出過“貓屎”咖啡，售價與“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.

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.

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen ）