Costa Rica Cascara

Cascara means “peel” or “skin” in Spanish, and is made from the dried fruit (“cherry”) of the coffee bean. Helsar de Zarcero Micromill is owned by Ricardo 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.