It occurred to us (well to Dion specifically) while setting up the two taps in our York St café to run Wild Kombucha on one tap and our coffee cascara tea on the other, that combining cascara with kombucha could be the start of something beautiful.
The plan hatched quickly with Wendy here at Single O and Lara Ball from Wild Kombucha’s Ballsy Brewing knowing the tartness of the coffee cascara would be a great pairing with the complexity of the kombucha, so getting straight to work.
Lara created 9 variants, incorporating coffee cascara, as well as hibiscus, rose and lavender for further complexity and depth of flavour. We sampled the variants together over 3 rounds of tastings, and whittled it down to the favourite, with its subtle complexity of floral essences and standout freshness.
Where to get said favourite? It’s running on those very taps in York St that first triggered the idea. It’s also going to be available for little stints at Ballsy Brewing in Leichhardt and Ruby’s Diner in Waverley from the 3rd December.
We’re really excited by this out-of-the-blue beverage, not only because of its irresistible flavour, but because it puts focus on the often discarded coffee cascara. Similar to a nose-to-tail ethos in cooking, enjoying the dried fruit of the coffee cherry – something that’s been done for centuries in Ethiopia, Yemen and other parts of the Arabian peninsula – means more of the plant is tasted and celebrated, not wasted. And when you have a cascara as rare and lovely as the one from El Salvador’s 5th generation coffee producer Aida Batlle, focus is what it deserves!
