Cascara + Coffee Bar is donating its first week of sales to build a specialty-coffee school in Colombia.
BY KATRINA YENTCH
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos courtesy of Liz Clayman
As we’ve seen the rise of cascara in specialty coffee over recent years, New York City-based roaster Devoción is introducing the coffee cherry skin to the general consumer market. Yesterday, the company opened Cascara + Coffee Bar in the NoMad district of Manhattan in New York City.
The mere 500-square-foot space is the first ever concept dedicated exclusively to cascara. While Devoción still serves a full menu of coffee beverages at the shop, cascara is the true focus; there are four sparkling taps of it, along with a rotating cascara pastry option and even a cascara affogato.
“We have the rare opportunity to showcase a product that no one has,” says Steve Sutton, founder of Devoción. “Because our cascara is made from the (flesh of) the fresh cherries and not the dry husk/skin, it’s naturally sweet, delicious, and refreshing. This gives us the opportunity to do a range of products with it.”
“Cascara” in Spanish means “peel” or “skin,” and was first given its name by legendary Salvadoran coffee producer Aida Battle in 2005. Years later, cascara has since grown into a major revenue stream; this antioxidant-rich coffee cherry skin is often incorporated into herbal teas and other sweet treats in the food and beverage world. We also discussed different ways to use it in the June + July 2019 issue of Barista Magazine.
The first week of beverage sales at Cascara + Coffee Bar are dedicated to Devoción’s mission to build a post-harvest coffee process lab at the IED Escuela Normal Superior de Gachetá in Colombia. In building this lab, Devoción hopes to teach students and their families about specialty coffee and how to produce it.
With its location in New York City, Cascara + Coffee Bar—and Devoción—are testing whether cascara is ready to break into the mainstream consumer audience.
