[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-11.jpg” align=”center” module_alignment=”center” max_width_last_edited=”on|phone” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”1″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n
Hibiscus, rose, dried tart cherry, rooibos tea: These are tasting notes for coffee, but not the way you might think. They’re actually the words we’ve used to describe our fresh-crop lots of completely traceable, meticulously processed, and fully pasteurized cascara, which we’re thrilled to offer in limited quantities for the second year in a row!<\/p>\n
This cascara comes in 4-kilogram boxes.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”2″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n
Cascara<\/em> in Spanish means \u201chusk\u201d or \u201cshell,\u201d and is used to describe the skin of the coffee fruit that has been removed during depulping, specifically dried, and used to brew an infused tea-like beverage. The trend of brewed cascara, or coffee-fruit tea, started in the mid-2000s when a few intrepid coffee growers began collecting the cascara and selling it in limited batches. Before long, cascara was the star of signature drinks in barista competitions all over the world, and even Starbucks made an attempt to bring it into the mainstream. While most coffee-lovers have never tasted coffee fruit before, cascara quickly became a unique way to offer an idea of the tropical, sweet, floral, and sometimes slightly herbal flavor of the cherry in which coffee seeds, or beans, actually grow.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”3″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n Unfortunately, until recently the only way to retrieve cascara was to quite literally take it from the trash heap: Most of the world\u2019s coffee cherry husks are discarded after depulping, or they are converted into fertilizer to be used in the fields. Anyone who’s ever visited a wet mill can probably call the smell of coffee fruit fermenting in the sun\u2014and those people are probably the least likely to order the cascara-based signature drink on the local caf\u00e9\u2019s menu!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Naturals-8.jpg” align=”center” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px”]<\/p>\n Helsar Micromill,\u00a0Llano Bonito de Naranjo, Costa Rica<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”4″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n Enter Helsar de Zarcero Micromill: This micromill is owned by Richardo P\u00e9rez and brothers Felipe and Marvin Rodriguez, and was built in the early 2000s in order to control the processing (and therefore the quality) of their farms. Since 2012, the University of Costa Rica along with Helsar Micromill has been researching the possibility of creating food-grade cascara using modern processing technology, pasteurization techniques, and, in an odd role reversal for coffee professionals, making the seeds the waste material instead of the cherry itself. (Though Helsar has begun selling the parchment coffee, as well.)<\/p>\n Caturra, Catuai, and Villalobos coffees from two farms in Naranjo, Costa Rica, are used specifically for this new cascara venture. After being harvested, the cherries are transported on the same day to a facility to be specially processed: The seeds in their mucilage are whisked away, but the removed pulp is washed, pasteurized, and dehydrated in a sterile environment to keep it free of pathogens, debris, and other not-delicious stuff commonly found in \u201cregular\u201d cascara.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-6.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-2.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-1-2.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”5″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n Cafe Imports sensory analysis director, Ian Fretheim<\/a>, has been submitting samples of dried coffee fruit for organics testing for several years in search of cascara that makes the (food) grade, and previously the results of the tests have been\u2026well, frankly pretty gross. As usual, Ian submitted this cascara for rigorous testing through a third-party verifier, and\u00a0the reports from Finca Santa Luc\u00eda and Finca Anonos\u2019s cascara<\/a>\u00a0are incredibly promising.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”6″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n \u201cThis is so far easily the cleanest cascara that we have had tested,\u201d Ian says, adding that in addition to being safe, it\u2019s also (bonus points!) pretty delicious.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tart, fruity, fresh, and clean tasting,\u201d he says. \u201cReminded me of a five-flavor berry tea from Korea.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”8″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n Cascara is not only good-tasting, but it\u2019s also high in antioxidants and lower in caffeine per serving. It\u2019s also much easier to prepare than, say, a single-origin double-shot latte with perfect latte art, and offers roasters and caf\u00e9s a way to start a conversation about what coffee is and where it comes from.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-9.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”8″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n Finally, the potential for a clean-cascara market not only would help producers diversify their income, but might also reduce the amount of coffee-related pollution, as it can help divert fermented fruit material from running off into springs, streams, lakes, and rivers during the coffee processing at source.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”HOW TO BREW” _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” header_font=”Raleway||||||||”]<\/p>\n Unlike with brewing roasted and ground coffee, where there are countless opinions about how to get\u00a0precisely\u00a0<\/em>the perfect extraction, there aren\u2019t any hard-and-fast rules about how best to steep cascara. That means you get to play around with it and try different cascara-to-water ratios, different temperatures, even different steep times to find what you and your customers like best.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-7.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-10.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.7″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Cafe_Imports_Cascara-13.jpg” align=”center” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”10″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n For starters, we like using anywhere from 1\u20133 grams of cascara for every ounce (28 grams) of just off-boil water, with a 5 or 6\u2013minute steep. (We find that steeping it much longer turns the drink somewhat acrid.) To make an iced cascara, just use half the amount of water you typically would, steep a concentrated liquid, and then pour over a cup of ice to simultaneously flash-chill and dilute the drink. Adjust the ratios to your taste, and get creative: We have some customers who like to make signature drinks like sparking cascara sodas or cocktails and 0% ABV drinks using complementary ingredients.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”11″ _builder_version=”3.7″ text_font=”Raleway||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_orientation=”justified” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on”]<\/p>\n Click below to find out more about the cascara project from UCR and Helsar Micromill and to place an order for some of this super special not-coffee coffee today.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row disabled_on=”off|off|off” disabled=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.7″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_button _builder_version=”3.7″ button_text=”CASCARA OFFERINGS” button_alignment=”center” custom_button=”on” button_bg_color_hover=”#ad2316″ button_text_color=”#000000″ button_text_color_hover=”#ffffff” button_url=”https:dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/offerings\/#\/keyword=cascara” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hibiscus, rose, dried tart cherry, rooibos tea: These are tasting notes for coffee, but not the way you might think. They\u2019re actually the words we\u2019ve used to describe our fresh-crop lots of completely traceable, meticulously processed, and fully pasteurized cascara, which we\u2019re thrilled to offer in limited quantities for the second year in a row!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":44956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-costa-rica"],"site_id":"1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.cafeimports.com\/north-america\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to Brew Cascara <\/strong><\/h1>\n