你會花50美元嘗一杯世上最貴的'象屎咖啡'嗎?

Would you pay $1,100 for a kilogram of specialty Coffee beans? What if they were pooped out by an elephant?

你會花1100美元買一公斤重的特殊咖啡豆嗎？如果這些咖啡豆是從大象體內排出來的呢？

It may sound like the stuff of satire, but that's exactly what's on the menu at four Maldives resorts and one in Thailand.

這聽起來很諷刺，但它真的就出現在了馬爾代夫（4個）和泰國（1個）的旅遊勝地的菜單上。

The Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas properties offer Black Ivory Coffee, a specialty brew made with beans digested and "naturally refined" by Thai elephants.

安納塔休閒度假酒店會給客人提供“黑象牙咖啡”--其原料是經過泰國大象消化和“自然提煉”過後的咖啡豆。

According to a release, the off-kilter process engenders the beans with a special quality:

據一項研究報告顯示，這一過程賦予了咖啡豆一種特殊的品質：

Research indicates that during digestion, the enzymes of the elephant break down coffee protein. Since protein is one of the main factors responsible for bitterness in coffee, less protein means almost no bitterness.

研究人員表示，在消化過程中，大象的生物酶會分解咖啡蛋白。而由於咖啡蛋白是造成咖啡苦味的主要因素之一，這就意味着這種咖啡幾乎沒有什麼苦味。

Only about 50 kilograms of the stuff are available for purchase, and each one will cost the adventurous drinker $1,100 per kilogram.

而這種咖啡豆的供貨量也少得可憐，只有50公斤，每公斤的售價則高達1100美元。

figures that amounts to about $50 a cup. For comparison sake, 16 oz. of Starbuck's House Blend retails for only $11.95 on its web site.

對其估價爲50美元一杯。相比之下，星巴克官網上的House Blend咖啡，16盎司只賣11.95美元。

Of course, the notion of roasting pooped-out beans isn't a new one. In 2010, word spread about what was then thought to be the most expensive coffee in the world: kopi luwak, a Southeast Asian brew made from coffee berries passed through the digestive tract of an Asian palm civet.

當然了，從動物糞便中撿出咖啡豆賣錢並不是什麼新鮮事。2010年，人們還在傳“貓屎咖啡”可能是全世界最貴的咖啡：東南亞一種狸貓將咖啡豆吃下去排泄出來，然後就變成了這種昂貴的奢侈品。

At the time, kopi luwak went for $100-600 a pound — cheap compared to Black Ivory Coffee.

當時貓屎咖啡售價每磅100到600美元--但是卻比現在這款黑象牙咖啡便宜一些。