You’re not far off, there’s a kind of coffee called Kopi Luwak which is literally a shit coffee that’s been eaten by civet cat and then pooped out. There’s a similar kind of that coffee that’s been eaten and shit out by elephants.

Kopi is considered gourmet among coffee drinkers, but in my opinion it’s just cope considering someone sold them literal shit they juice into a cup using steaming water. Personally I cannot imagine the mental gymnastics to make the poopy brown bean shit-water a part of my morning routine.

Perhaps I should have prefaced my argument with the fact that I’m bilingual, I spent half of my life over there and half in the US and I tend to pick up on the slight wording differences. But I do see where you are coming from with the skepticism. I appreciate you fact checking me on this. I agree, port is not specifically a Russian word, but it would be a primary choice of a word for a Russian speaker, as well as the primary bragging point.

My point was - “warm water port” (which is precisely тепловодный порт) is nothing to brag about in the US, most ports here are. But it has been a largely discussed point by Russians in Russia, and primarily has been mentioned by Putin as a point of pride for Russia, as they have only 2 of those in the country.

You’ve gotta agree, it is very odd to hear somebody who wouldn’t have been exposed to Putin’s speeches regarding the importance of “warm water ports” even mention it as a first point, especially being from Texas. Every port up and down East and West coast is a “warm water port”.

It is an actual Russian “divide and conquer” troll. A “warm water port” is exactly how you string that sentence together in Russian. A Texan would first of all call it a harbor (port is the word for it in Russian, so likely a direct translation), secondly wouldn’t mention that at all, since an “ice port” isn’t even a thing anywhere in the US, except for Alaska, and having an ice free one is nothing to brag about. In Russia it is a big deal and is a matter of national pride, hence the Crimea takeover. It’s more than just land to them.