A reviewer for the site RocketNews24, which got hold of a bottle of the 6.5% ABV Un, Kono Kuro stout – only 3000 bottles were brewed – described its aroma as faintly bitter: “A little like roasted coffee just giving me a sense of what’s to come."
“After taking my first sip there was an initial bitterness that got washed over by a wave of sweetness. Following that, a mellow body rolled in and spread out through my mouth,” he added.
Un, Kono Kuro is reportedly a pun on ‘unko’, the Japanese word for ‘crap’ (hence the cheeky headline.
But this beer certainly doesn’t seem set to attract derogatory adjectives, since it is clearly aimed at the super premium segment – the coffee beans used to make it cost $1100/kg.
Produced in Thailand, the low caffeine green coffee beans are eaten, refined and excreted by native elephants, then made into Black Ivory Coffee costing $500/pound.
Brand owner Black Ivory Coffee claims that research by the University of Guelph indicates that elephant digestive enzymes break down coffee proteins, one of the main factors responsible for the drink’s bitterness, resulting in a particularly smooth brew.
Sankt Gallen said on its website that its beer, launched on April 1,contained “the auxiliary material Black Ivory coffee, the world’s finest, made from excrement of elephants”.
The brewer produced a cheeky-looking infographic schematizing the production process, that you can see above. If you know of any more wacky or exotic drinks launches (beer-related or otherwise) please contact me at ben.bouckley@wrbm.com