Would you drink coffee laced with pure gold?
Faith Kyoumukama
A strange coffee beverage is on sale at a Nairobi hotel— at Sh5,500 a cup. In what was a hush-hush invitation to the launch at Villa Rossa Kempinski Hotel in Nairobi, a surprise awaited foodies and invited guests at the K’ Lounge; coffee laced with gold dust, served in gold-plated cup and saucer.
Envision a hot cup of Gold Cappuccino, containing gold flakes floating on the hot drink. The cappuccino is made up of freshly brewed Kenyan coffee embellished with 24-carat edible gold flakes.
The drink is the first to be served in Africa and second in the world after United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The beverage is only served in hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where Burj Al Arab, the Armani Hotel and Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace offer the gold-infused drinks.
Kempinski has introduced, this luxurious hot beverage targeting their opulent clients. Th Ultimate Gold Cappuccino is out of the regular Joe’s reach, costing Sh5,500 a cup.
Quite a difference compared to UAE prices, where it costs between Sh2,600 and Sh2,000.
Why cappuccino, you may ask. Mohammed Mohammed the hotel’s Director Food and Beverages says it is difficult to offer a beverage that’s stands out in character and exudes art.
“This cappuccino is an artistic drink by itself, the technique used to create different shapes of art using its foam makes it the perfect pair for the gold flakes,” he said.
The coffee set is served on fine-bone, gold-gilded china in keeping with the theme. It’s also adorned with edible rose petals from Italy known as Sweet Williams, creating a tree-like picture using chocolate sticks as the stems.
For me, the gold flakes tasted both odourless and without flavour. As they demonstrated how the drink comes to life, my fear was; what if it was toxic?
Mohammed said gold is an inert metal easily passed through the human digestive system in about 24 hours, unchanged and without causing any harm or reaction to the body.
We were informed that unless you are lactose-intolerant or a die-hard vegetarian and milk is not you’re preferred choice, you can freely partake the Gold cappuccino.
