Hand-roasted coffee brand Union has extended its range of beverages to include a sparkling cascara coffee fruit infusion for the first time.
Cascara is the husk of the coffee cherry, a by-product of pulping ripe coffee cherries before the beans are washed and dried. In most coffee-producing countries the pulp is considered worthless, and is either discarded as waste or broken down to use in fertiliser, but it can be brewed with spices such as ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon to make a fragrant and refreshing caffeinated tea.
Union has introduced a carbonated cold-brew version of the drink as an alternative to soft drinks and iced teas.
Union Sparkling Cascara has a sweet, fruity taste with notes of apple and rhubarb and a lower caffeine content than traditional coffee. It also contains a high concentration of natural sugars, oils, vitamins and antioxidants that naturally occur in the skin and pulp of the coffee fruit.
The drink is a new take on the brewing tradition, using cascara from the Los Lajones Catuai estate in Panama and brewing the cherry husks into an invigorating, carbonated blend of cascara infusion which is mixed with Sicilian lemon juice to create a refreshing drink.
Having been sampled at the London Coffee Festival, it will now be launched in limited numbers this summer, packaged in 20 litre dolium kegs. The kegs can be stored at ambient temperatures and will be offered for on-trade operators to serve on draught, with a recommended retail price of £2.80 for a 280ml glass.
Union co-founder Jeremy Torz said: “At Union we are constantly looking for ways to innovate, and our new Sparkling Cascara is a great example of this. It’s an exciting way to use coffee cherries, and we’re very proud of the outcome, which is a really delicious and refreshing drink. We’re thrilled to launch our Sparkling Cascara to the UK market, and we’re sure it’s going to be very popular this summer.”
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