Cascara Ethiopia Finca Alcatraz

Sweet & Fruity

Sweet, juicy cascara that tastes like cherries, oranges, and dried apples. It is beautifully light and refreshing and reminds us most of hibiscus tea. It tastes great as a hot infusion, but also cold! 

Our new cascara comes from Colombia, from our favorite region of Huila, which we visited ourselves. It is produced by Wilfredo Vargas and his family, who run the Alcatraz farm. In addition to coffee, this farm focuses on the production of high-quality cascara. During harvesting, the local cherries are peeled and then immediately transferred to dryers. Once the desired moisture content is achieved, Wilfredo carefully adjusts the precise blend of individual varieties to achieve the best possible flavor. This lot is a blend of Typica, Red Bourbon, Geisha, and Caturra varieties.

Cascara itself is a by-product of coffee bean processing. It is a dried coffee cherry that offers a fresh fruity flavor, plenty of caffeine, and antioxidants. In the same volume, cascara has about half the caffeine content of coffee. 

Cascara extract is prepared similarly to loose leaf tea. For 1 liter of drink, use 50g, pour hot water (approx. 93°C, but boiling water is also fine) and let it steep for up to 10 minutes, then strain. In any case, don't be afraid to experiment and let yourself be surprised by how cascara develops more and more flavors when prepared in different ways!

Dried coffee husks