Description

Cafe Imports is pleased to offer a limited quantity of completely traceable fresh-crop cascara from Costa Rica. Cascara in Spanish means “husk” or “shell,” and is used to describe the skin of the coffee fruit that has been removed during depulping. It has become popular as a dried fruit used to brew an infusion.

Helsar de Zarcero Micromill is owned by Richardo Pérez 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 and Helsar Micromill have been researching the possibility of creating food-grade cascara using modern technology, pasteurization, and specialization. In an interesting role-reversal, the coffees used here were picked specifically to produce cascara—the coffee seeds are the “by-product” in this unique case! Caturra, Catuai, and Villalobos coffees from fincas Santa Lucía and Anonos in Naranjo, Costa Rica, comprise this special lot.

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 “regular” cascara. This is the cleanest cascara we’ve ever seen, and we’re pleased to offer it to our customers.

For more information about coffee production in Costa Rica, visit our Costa Rica page.