[gOOber]

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Thailand (AP) -- In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is excreting some of the world's most expensive coffee.
 
Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's unique taste.
 
Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world's most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it's also among the world's priciest.
 
For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world - first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi - with the price tag of about $50 a serving.

[solvegas]

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Thailand (AP) -- In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is excreting some of the world's most expensive coffee.
 
Trumpeted as earthy in flavor and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's unique taste.
 
Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world's most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it's also among the world's priciest.
 
For now, only the wealthy or well-traveled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world - first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi - with the price tag of about $50 a serving.

Wow, that's one cup of shitty coffee. 

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[gOOber]

At least they`re honest.

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[Palomine]

That's nice! Though I rarely step into a Starbucks anymore, from what I recall/have seen, it figures that some baristas have got to be BB fans, given the all-day parade through those places. Though that latte artwork looks handmade (using a coffee stirrer to make coffee lines in the froth manually) I've also seen (on TV) at least a couple places using machines like dot matrix printers to print images onto the froth using food-safe colorings. 

[gOOber]

I would like to see someone do that. I guess it`s easy if you have the talent.

[Andrew]

  I'll make about 6 cups in a 12 cup maker each morning. The coffee mugs I'm using turn that into 3 servings with milk and sugar. I try to be done **94** the stuff by noon, as it does keep me up at night. I heat with a woodstove and find that if the ceramic mug has gone cold, a few minutes set on the cast-iron heater brings it right back to temp. In the afternoon though, a nice cup of hot tea is good pick-me-up. Strangely, I didn't start **94** coffee untill I had turned 30.
 
  I haven't read into the subject, but many of my health-conscious friends swear that coffee should always have hot (not boiling) water poured over to make a good cup. They're the ones who tell me that the old-fashioned percolater is not a good choice to brew the drink. Seems that allowing the coffee to be boiled changes the cholesterol from 'good' to 'bad'.

  So it's a fresh brew each day for me, I'm having one now! Later--->Triumph

[Palomine]

  I'll make about 6 cups in a 12 cup maker each morning. The coffee mugs I'm using turn that into 3 servings with milk and sugar. I try to be done **94** the stuff by noon, as it does keep me up at night. I heat with a woodstove and find that if the ceramic mug has gone cold, a few minutes set on the cast-iron heater brings it right back to temp. In the afternoon though, a nice cup of hot tea is good pick-me-up. Strangely, I didn't start **94** coffee untill I had turned 30.
 
  I haven't read into the subject, but many of my health-conscious friends swear that coffee should always have hot (not boiling) water poured over to make a good cup. They're the ones who tell me that the old-fashioned percolater is not a good choice to brew the drink. Seems that allowing the coffee to be boiled changes the cholesterol from 'good' to 'bad'.

  So it's a fresh brew each day for me, I'm having one now! Later--->Triumph

You sound more disciplined than me... and like a bigger consumer.

I use a Krups drip machine that I received as a gift like 20 years ago (still works fine). On one side is a single-shot espresso maker and milk frother which I sometimes use (takes about 10 minutes to build up steam for that first cup) and on the other side is a 10-cup drip, which I usually use more often. I make a whole/full thing (10 cups comes out to about 6-7 medium mugs which I too preheat. As I usually only drink one or two per day it usually takes me 3-4 days to finish the whole thing off (kept in the fridge and then I microwave one mug at a time later). I know this isn't ideal, but frankly, I've had some pretty enjoyable 'last cups' ...and of course if I have a guest, I'll brew a new one for them. I usually use a dark-roasted Armenian coffee of something from Trader Joe's, along with creamer (sometimes flavored... so sue me) and artificial sweetener. I'm not on a diet... I just like how it dissolves completely.

Coffee never keeps me up at night even if I have a cup after dinner occasionally... and it does help me wake up a bit in the morning, though I usually don't have ay during the day for a pick-me-up. I just like it... lots of habits have consequences and to my mind, coffee is a (much) lesser evil that also provides something warm and tasty.

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[Chelsea74]

 

Maybe Mia Gray aka Michaela Grauke/Playmate of the Year

Chelsea