Black Ivory Coffee Sample Pack

An escape beyond coffee.

For this rare coffee, the journey takes us to Thailand. Here, the coffee is “refined” by elephants. That’s where the name Black Ivory comes from. The elephants are fed a mixture of fresh fruit, rice, and Thai Arabica beans. Just like with civets, these beans pass through the elephant’s gastrointestinal tract. The undigested beans are excreted by the elephants after up to 24 hours. The beans are then sorted by hand from the elephant dung, washed, and sun-dried. The purpose of the elephant’s digestion is said to be the removal of bitter compounds.

However, producing one kilogram of Black Ivory coffee is significantly more labor-intensive than with Kopi Luwak. These gentle pachyderms aren’t just large—they also have very large teeth. As a result, not every coffee cherry seed reaches the stomach; many are crushed by the elephants’ teeth. Annual production is therefore well below 100 kilograms, making Black Ivory coffee the rarest coffee in the world.

Which grind size is suitable for which brewing method: