#clappforcoffee

Last week we had the pleasure of doing a cupping of some beautiful coffees from Slate Coffee from Seattle, WA. There were 6 coffees total, all with really interesting flavors. We cupped the blindly and asked everyone to rank without knowing which coffee was which. Here were our Top 3.

1) Ethiopia Kilenso

The Stats Producer: Many Local Growers Region: Sidama, Ethiopia Origin: Kilenso Mokonisa Cultivar: Heirloom Processing: Natural Elevation: 1900m

The Notes When I was in kindergarten, my favorite snack was always strawberries with powdered sugar. As soon as the Kilenso hit my tongue, I was warped back to kindergarten and that flavor profile. It has a hit of bright berry at the beginning, but rounds out to a delicious sweetness at the end. This coffee was for high marks from everyone and was the consensus favorite.

The Clapps: 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼✋🏼

2) Colombia Finca Florestales

The Stats Producer: Gutierrez Family Estate: Finca Florestales Origin: Rio Blanco, Tolima, Colombia Cultivar: Yellow Caturra Elevation: 1850m Processing: Washed

The Notes This was a much different coffee from the Kilenso, but was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It has a bright hit of cranberry at the beginning before it moves to something like a juicy peach – really full mouthfeel. The sweetness of this one lingers a while in a very pleasing way.

The Clapps: 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

3) Kenya Kianyangi AB

The Stats Producer: Murue Farmers Cooperative Society Origin: Embu, Kenya Wet Mill: Kianyangi Factory Cultivar: SL 28, SL 34 Elevation: 1800m Processing: Washed

The Notes This is very much a classic Kenyan. Really juicy tomato with that high acidity that makes this coffee shine. I was really impressed with how tea-like the body on this one stays as well. All the brightness you expect from a Kenyan with a nice, round finish. We really enjoyed this one.

The Clapps: 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Slate is also featuring some cool Brazilian coffees as well as an Ethiopian Guji that we enjoyed as well. The Brazilians are highly recommended if you want something more earthy & nutty with fruit notes of fig or plum. Really appreciated those as well.

All in all, cupping and tasting these coffees from Slate was some of the most fun we’ve had in a while. They’re doing great stuff and I will recommend them very highly!

If you want to try some of these coffees mentioned here, swing by 392 Caffe ASAP and we’ll get you hooked up!

Cascara 101

Cascara is one of the coolest ways to get the full experience of coffee. Cascara is actually a Spanish word that means “husk”, so when we talk about Cascara Tea, it’s a tea made from the husk of coffee cherries. So crazy!

More and more roasters have been saving the pulp of the coffee cherry that is cast aside during roasting and preserving it in a way that lets us do ALL kinds of stuff with it.

The nice part about Cascara is how easy it is to make something delicious. All you do is steep the Cascara in water, we use a 1:25 ratio – 1 gram of Cascara for every 25 grams of water – and we let that sit for about 8 minutes. Then we simply filter the Cascara out and discard and we are left with a crazy tea that’s somewhere between an earthy cinnamon tea and a red fruit-by-the-foot!

Another way you can brew Cascara is through cold brew, in which case you’d use the same ratio as above, except you’d use cold water rather than hot and let it sit for 8 hours or more. This would give the tea more time to extract flavor and do some really cool things with the flavor of the tea.

At 392 Caffe, our friends from Dogwood Coffee in Minneapolis have hooked us up with some amazing Cascara. This weekend we are debuting our Summertime Cascara Elixir, which is the Cascara Cold Brew pushed through a nitro tap. It should be a wild ride. You can also try the Cascara as hot or iced tea and grab a tin to make at home.

It has minimal caffeine content, so whether you’re a coffee drinker looking for a crazy experience, and tea drinker who wants to try something new, or even if you just want something you can’t get anywhere else around, come hang out with us this weekend and grab a drink sure to blow your mind!

Clapp Rating: 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

What have been your experiences with Cascara? How have you brewed it? What crazy concoction have you seen? The possibilities are endless, which is why we love it so much!