What is Cáscara?
We love our morning cup of coffee, but who knew the fruit surrounding the coffee bean (yes, the coffee is a fruit!) is equally rich in flavour and character!
For centuries people in Ethiopia have been brewing tea from the coffee cherry, and yet the world only turned to the coffee bean.
With Kaska we go back to origin and bring origin back to you. Explore the fine notes of hibiscus, dried plums and peach hidden in the husk of the coffee cherries: the cáscara! It doesn't taste like coffee, not a single bit. Curious?
Cáscara process
50% of the coffee fruit is not being used as the economy continuously look to caffeinate our lives. Not that caffeine isn't a great source of energy, but we are missing half the story. The coffee pulp, or in Spanish cascara, is full of nutrients and nootropics that can fuel our brain but we keep on turning a blind eye to this health benefit.
Read below to learn when this happens.
Hand harvest
The red coffee cherries are hand picked across the coffee plantations.
They are collected in baskets and taken to the processing facilities.
Drying process
There are several methods to process the coffee cherries. The most common ones are wet and dry processes. What marks the difference between these two methods is wether the pulp is removed before drying the green bean or after. If the pulp is still attached to the bean during the drying process, it tends to provide fruiter notes when tasting the final coffee. Not to mention, it is also the most sustainable method.
Removing the cascara
Regardless what method is chosen, the coffee pulp (cascara) is removed to reveal the green bean. This is the stage where the cascara is left behind. Few farmers have implemented practices to turn the cascara into flour, other into fertilisers. If financial resources are not in place (which is 90% of the cases) 50% of the coffee fruit is discarded at this stage.
Manufacture
The final stages follow once the coffee reached the desired moisture. These stages are: De-pulping, milling and storing. Finally, the green beans are ready to be shipped or distributed to the roasting partners.
