Colombia Cascara – dried coffee fruits, husk of coffee

Cascara, or dried coffee fruits, coffee husk

"Cascara" means "peel" in Spanish the husk that surrounds the fruit. These dried coffee fruit peels have won the hearts and taste buds of coffee lovers around the world.

Brewed cascara contains less caffeine than coffee, so it's a great alternative for those susceptible to its effects, pregnant women, breastfeeding women and simply - fans of new flavors!

Where cascara is being drunk?

In Ethiopia, Bolivia and Yemen, an infusion of ripe coffee fruit has been drunk for centuries. The most common addition to cascara in those parts of the world is honey, cinnamon, ginger and milk. Cascara is a popular drink in most countries where coffee is grown. In addition to its traditional use, cascara is usually considered a "by-product" during the coffee processing.

For the past 10 years or so, cascara has also appeared in Europe. This dried coffee fruit is eagerly brewed in many coffee shops. The fruity flavor of this drink is truly unique, so it is worth exploring dried coffee fruit and inviting it into your home!

Aroma and flavour

Colombia Cascara contains no additives or artificial flavors. Thanks to its exceptional quality, you can sense the aroma and taste of cherry compote, cranberry and apple. These flavor notes are what the sensory profile is all about - the natural taste of cascara.

Character of cascara

Colombia Cascara has a fruity and mildly sweet character. Its flavor is dominated by a vinous, fruity acidity, so it will be a great choice if you are looking for a cascara with this character.

How to prepare the best cascara?

We are sharing our recipe with you, but please remember that this is a starting recipe that you can always modify to make the cascara taste even better.

We will suggest proportions and brewing method that you can recreate in any pot or even jar or Largo from Hario and Aeropress!

If you don't have your Largo and AeroPress yet, you can buy them, you certainly won't regret it!

 Use 12 g of cascara

 Pour water and keep it for 8 minutes

 Use 300 ml of water

 Water should be boiling - set pot for 100°C

Prepare any vessel of the following type: pitcher. It can also be an AeroPress or Largo! Warm the water in the kettle, measure the cascara and heat the hot water vessel in which you will brew and prepare something to stir the brew.

Do you have everything? Well, here we go. Pour 12 g of cascara into an AeroPress, Largo or any vessel such as a pitcher. Pour the whole thing with water to 300 ml and wait 8 minutes.

Stir the cascara 4 to 5 times when brewing it.

If it's been 8 minutes all you need to do is quickly squeeze the coffee through the AeroPress, pour it from the Largo or any other vessel you use through a strainer. 

Dlaczego Palarnia to najlepsze źródło kawy i cascary?

Roastains jest niedużą palarnią kawy. To właśnie w małych jest siła! Nasze zielone ziarna kawy ściągamy bezpośrednio do palarni, aby codziennie wypalać świeżą kawę – to gwarancja jakości specialty. Najważniejsze są dla nas arabiki, które znajdziesz w naszym sklepie. Wiemy o nich wszystko – skąd pochodzą, kto je uprawia, z jakich dokładnie są odmian botanicznych kawowca.

Możesz napić się naszej kawy w wielu uznanych kawiarniach w całej Polsce, z czego jesteśmy wyjątkowo dumni, jako palarnia segmentu specialty.

Detailed informations about this cascara

Facts

• Origin: Oporapa, Huila, Colombia
• Farm: Finca Alcatraz
• Producer: Wilfredo Ule Vargas
• Altitude: 1600 - 1700 m.a.s.l.
• Specie: Coffea Arabica
• Varietal: Czerwony Bourbon
• Processing method: wet (washed)
• Harvest: current crop
• Quality: cascara is obtained from microlots evaluated as a specialty

Explore the Huila region

Colombia mines emeralds, oil and grows coffee, of which it is the third largest producer in the world. Coffee grows almost all over the western part of the country. The most recognizable regions are Huila, Narino, Tolima and Antioquia.

Huila, a mountainous department located in the southwest. According to the Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), Huila produced 2.6 million 60-kilogram bags in 2016, accounting for 18% of the country's coffee production. That same year, the Neiva Chamber of Commerce reported that the department has 154,800 hectares of land dedicated to coffee cultivation.

Hulia is not only about abundant yields, it's also about quality. The region regularly wins numerous Cup of Excellence awards. What's more, in 2013 it was awarded Denomination of Origin status - the same status awarded to champagne, Roquefort cheese and many other food and beverage products with unique, locally distinctive characteristics.

Explore the Finca Alcatraz plantation

The fruit we have selected comes from the friendly Finca Alcatraz farm and processing station run by Wilfredo Ule Vargas in Colombia. The plantation is located close by, 30 minutes from the town of Oporapa located in the department of Huila - the most recognized coffee-growing region in Colombia.

The farm's name is not coincidentally named after the most famous defunct prison in San Francisco, USA. Wilfredo named his land so in honor of the movie Fortress starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

Wilfredo, is a farmer with whom we understand each other very well, because our approaches to coffee are the same. He wants to explore every detail about his coffee, he records all the results, even the seemingly insignificant ones.

He processes the coffee himself, roasts the coffee samples himself and tests them himself. He plants his lands with more and more interesting Arabica bushes, on his lands we can find Red, Yellow and even Pink Bourbon, Colombia, Typica and even Gesha.

As of 2019, when he ranked 19th in the Cup of Excellence Colombia North, most of his customers are importers from the US, Australia and Japan, unfortunately, the price settling around $13 USD per kg of coffee is too high for most importers from Europe.

Methods of processing coffee from ripe fruit – cascara

Cascara Colombia was created during the washed processing of coffee cherries, specifically at the very beginning of the process. Depulping is a precursor to further processing, and involves breaking off the peel along with some of the flesh from the green coffee beans using the brushes of the washing system. The peel, picked from the cherry, dries in the sun. Like coffee, washed-processed cascara will have a clean taste, higher acidity and lower sweetness.

The exception in the coffee market is cascara from natural processing, it is quite rare. Shortly after the cherries are picked from the coffee plants, the fruit goes to a bed or concrete yard, where it dries in the sunlight. After about 10-28 days the coffee cherries are sufficiently dried. This is the moment to mechanically detach the skin along with the pulp from the green bean, or huling.

Cascara from unripe fruit - is it possible?

Good cascara cannot come from unripe fruit, so coffee pickers look only for intensely red or yellow, ripe coffee cherries on the bushes.