The world’s most expensive cup of joe

Stokely Baksh 0 Comment World Black Ivory Coffee, Blake Dinkin, coffee, Getty Images, Paula Bronstein, Thai elephants

Would you spend $50 on a cup of exotic coffee?

The world’s most expensive coffee hails from Thailand thanks to Canadian coffee expert Blake Dinkin and his Black Ivory Coffee. The unique blend is made from Thai arabica hand-picked beans, and naturally refined by Thai elephants. What?!? A Thai elephant you say.

The process includes waiting 15-30 hours for the elephant to digest the beans. Once that happens, coffee beans are plucked from the dung, washed and roasted. Approximately 10,000 beans are picked to produce 1 kg or about 2.2 lbs of roasted coffee. At $1,100 per kilogram, the cost per cup equals $50, making the exotic new brew the world’s priciest cup of joe, according to Getty.

Photos taken by Paula Bronstein of Getty Images.

Yida refugee camp surges past 64,000 in South Sudan

Jul 7, 2012

Yida refugee camp surges past 64,000 in South Sudan

Nick Tann 1 Comment World North Sudan, Paula Bronstein, refugees, South Sudan, Sudan, Yida

30 photos

Refugees fleeing from the violence in North Sudan are crowding into the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan. Currently swollen beyond 64,000 people, each day the camp sees 500-1,000 new arrivals. Due to the rainy season, many are suffering from severe cases of diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition. Meanwhile, sanitation issues have caused increasing illness, and field hospitals report 95 percent of all patients are under the age five. So far, no food shortages have been reported, but the international aid community continues to struggle to provide basic medical assistance and proper sanitation.

Getty Images photographer Paula Bronstein reports back from inside the camp with the following emotional series of photographs beginning with her arrival on June 29.