Original Blend

I am passionate about coffee, and first tried Kopi Luwak. I was disappointed because it was not at all distinctive. I learned of Black Ivory, and was intrigued by the process and the rarity. After tasting Black Ivory, I was delighted at its distinctive taste and lack of bitterness. Aside from the distinctive taste, Black Ivory is superior to Kopi Luwak in taste, rarity and ethics. I bought the triple pack so I could keep one for my spouse and myself and share the other two with friends.

The pack that you receive is very small. I prepared this coffee pour over style immediately after I ground the beans. It was only enough to make less than three 8 ounce cups of coffee. That's with going by the instructions of my pour over, using about one tablespoon for every 4 ounces of liquid. As far as taste, first impression was the smell... it's definitely different than the normal coffee smell you're used to smelling from a coffee house or your coffee maker in the morning. It's more earthy. My kids swore they could smell hints of elephant poop. *eyeroll* But the smell also comes across in the flavor. It tastes earthy and grassy. It's smooth and has no bitterness. I didn't taste the chocolate notes but I did get the tamarind/spice elements of it. My hubby and I tried this, along with my parents, brother and his wife and we all agreed that it wasn't bad but is it worth all this money? The consensus was...no. It's definitely "different" but not something I think I would ever crave or want again as far as flavor. It's more of a novelty item if anything because of how rare it is. The best thing it has going for it is that the money from this supposedly helps elephants.

I used this both for espresso and for regular brewed coffee. The taste is different with remarkable and also subtle notes. I have tried the genuine Kopi Luwak and this is definitely more distinctive to my taste buds. I ordered this once as a treat. And loved it so much, I am now onto my third order. If you are at all on the fence, I heartily say to "go for it". The service is great and the product arrived quickly and well packaged. Caution that it can be habit forming.

Ok, let's keep it real. Each bag of this coffee costs $100, I got two cups of coffee out of one bag. So I'm reviewing a $50 cup of coffee. It has a distinguishing aroma, and it did taste well. However, it didn't taste any better than my regular coffee, which I buy at Costco. I made the coffee in a French press, which is how I usually make my coffee. It did taste a bit different than my regular coffee, but i wouldn't necessary say better, just different. For this price I'm expecting excellence. Which the taste did not provide. Packaging is nice, I like that the company support the cause of elephants, but aside from those things I think it's a very overpriced.

I'm a huge fan of exotically rare and expensive foods. I think it is really fantastic when a company can figure out a way to take something normal (like coffee) and figure out a way to make a product that will cause people to spend literally hundreds of dollars over the regular price. The presentation of the coffee is nice but not over the top. The three individual small bags are great for making them individual servings. No worries about opening the package before you need to use it. I did find it a little strange that coffee selling for over $1,300 a pound came in a padded envelope. I would have expected it to arrive in a fancy box that would really show off the product. I was really excited to give this coffee a try. We normally choose dark roast coffees but were looking forward to the "sweetness and tea-like consistency" and "Distinctive and complex body without any bitterness" that was advertised with this coffee. Unfortunatley brewing a cup of this coffee and tasting it didn't provide the taste and experience we were hoping for. The coffee had a bitterness to it that we couldn't get past. I had both my adult son and wife taste it and while they are both coffee lovers they didn't appreciate the "Black Ivory Coffee - The Rarest & Most Expensive Coffee in The World - Try it Made From 100% Thai Arabica Coffee Naturally Refined, Naturally Expensive - Ideal Gift - 3 Pack-3.6oz".