Brew Review – Corporate Ladder Brewing Company/3 Sons Brewing Co. Rum Barrel Aged Black Tusk

I have an insane one for today’s Brew Review, Rum Barrel Aged Black Tusk, a collab from Corporate Ladder with 3 Sons Brewing Co. This 13.5% rum barrel aged imperial sweet stout was aged 26 months in a single rum barreled then conditioned on Black Ivory Coffee, the rarest and most expensive coffee in the world (more below on that) and Comoros vanilla beans.

Black Ivory Coffee is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with only an average of 300 pounds produced every year, and it going for over $1000 per pound. Black Ivory Coffee is consumed by elephants in Thailand and collected from their waste. The taste of Black Ivory coffee is influenced by the elephants’ digestive enzymes, which ferments the cherries. 72 pounds of raw coffee cherries results in two pound of finished product, which along with the way is made is why it is so expensive. For as gross as it sounds, I was super interested to learn about this and try this stout conditioned on such a unique style of coffee. A portion of Black Ivory Coffee Company sales are donated to the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, which is used to fund the elephants’ health care, and consuming all of the coffee cherries doesn’t adversely affect the elephants’ health, nor is the caffeine absorbed by them.