Caskai Sparkling Cascara

Thursday October 11, 2018 // By Dana Schlingman

This summer Joel Jelderk, owner and founder of Caskai, stopped by to tell us all about cascara, and the delicious fruity sparkling beverage he and the Caskai team craft with it.

What is Cascara?
The coffee that drinks like a tea, cascara is the cherry fruit that grows around the outside of the coffee bean. Rather than discarding this fruit, as most coffee growers would, the Caskai team has found a way to safely dry and upcycle it into a refreshing, lightly caffeinated specialty beverage.

"Natural Coffee Process" Drying
The secret behind the vibrant flavor lies in the drying process. To preserve the superfood nutritional benefits of the cascara, the coffee cherry is dried whole before the bean is removed (to keep the juice inside the cherry). Furthermore, during the drying process, the cherries are meticulously turned to allow air flow and to prevent molding. Because Joel’s wife imports green coffee, he can work directly with producers in the highlands of Panama and Nicaragua to ensure that they handle the cascara properly. All Caskai cascara is tested and certified to guarantee it’s quality.

Premium Ingredients
Once the fruit has been dried, the bean is removed and the remaining Cascara is steeped like a tea to create an earthy, naturally sweet infusion. Finally, it’s combined with fresh spring water from the Austrian Alps and a touch of organic cane sugar to create Caskai Sparkling Cascara. Sustainable, delicious and nutrient-rich, Caskai contains only 40 calories per bottle, up to 14 mg of naturally occurring caffeine, antioxidants, B Vitamins, Vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, and iron (Caskai Nutritional Information). It is a refreshing beverage that offers artisanal appeal and convenience.  

In this picture, I’m holding a bag of the dried Caskai Premium Sun-dried Cascara™. During his visit, Joel brewed a bit of it for us to taste. In this more concentrated form, we thought it tasted a bit like Yerba Mate, figs or rooibos tea. Because the cherries naturally contain a little sugar, the flavor was slightly sweet and full. At this time, Caskai doesn’t distribute their cascara in this form because they don’t have a packaging solution (though, it was delicious and they are working on it). Joel and his family (including his 11-year-old son) packaged the bags he brought.

Named best new product twice at Coffee Fest (Baltimore 2017 & Denver 2018), the secret about casacara’s delicious flavor and powerful nutritional benefits is certainly out!  

 

Order today or contact us to request a sample with your next order.

Visit Caskai’s website to learn more.