This post is an informative journalistic coverage of a PR event with editorial & reportage elements that do not aim to promote any business, organisation, product or service.
Today - on the day of publication- I am a member of Ruokatoimittajat ry (Finnish Food Writers' Association), and attended this PR event as a food writer (not as an influencer).
6 November 2025 - Helsinki
When Kaffa Roastery invited me to an afternoon about something called cascara, I had to know what could possibly make a non-coffee drinker like me cross over into the world of beans and brews. Curiosity, of course!
Cascara, as it turns out, isn’t coffee at all - at least not in the way we think of it. It’s made from the dried fruit skin of the coffee cherry, the part usually discarded. Around 73% of each cherry’s weight is left unused after the beans are separated, a staggering figure considering the billions of cups brewed daily. Only recently approved as a food ingredient in the EU, cascara is now stepping into the spotlight as a fragrant, antioxidant-rich ingredient with a story that fits perfectly into today’s circular mindset.
Photo by © Reka Csulak - Three Pod Studio
Svante Hampf, the founder of Kaffa Roastery, spoke passionately about the brand’s mission to change how Finns see coffee — not just as a drink, but as a craft connected to people, land, and innovation. He shared how Kaffa aims to become one of the first roasteries in the world to utilise every part of the coffee cherry — including the once-discarded cascara — and to eventually sell as much cascara as coffee beans by 2030. It’s an ambitious promise, but after listening to him, it feels more like inevitability than optimism.
Photo by © Reka Csulak - Three Pod Studio
While we listened, images of coffee farms filled the screen — Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia — showing the long path each bean takes and the many hands behind it. Every step, from picking to drying, reminded us how much craftsmanship hides inside something most people take for granted. Cascara adds a new chapter to that story — one about resourcefulness, sustainability, and finding beauty in the overlooked.
Photo by © Reka Csulak - Three Pod Studio
After the presentation, things got hands-on. We were invited to a blind tasting: a playful guessing game that revealed just how versatile cascara can be. Each cup carried a different infusion: some bright and citrusy, others rounder with hints of vanilla or berries. It felt less like a coffee event and more like exploring a novelty drink altogether.
Photo by © Reka Csulak - Three Pod Studio
Besides the warm tea, we tasted cascara cocktails that turned the concept on its head - a crisp Cascara Soda with a sparkling lift, and a Cascara Negroni that softened the classic bitterness with fruity depth and a subtle sweetness.
The base itself was gentle, somewhere between tea and juice, with whispers of dried fruit, raisin, and floral warmth. No caffeine jitters, no bitterness — just a beautiful new cocktail mixer for the curious.
Photo by © Reka Csulak - Three Pod Studio
By the time I left, the air still carried the scent of roasted beans and something else: the sense of a cultural shift where coffee no longer ends with the bean, but begins with the whole cherry. I came in as a non-coffee drinker and left with the taste of cascara on my tongue, and a renewed appreciation for what happens when passion and purpose meet in a cup.
Thank you so much to Svante Hampf and the Kaffa Roastery Team for inviting me to this event.
You can see more insights and photos on my Instagram.
DISCLOSURE
The organiser has not set any special criteria and has not initiated any financial/alternative compensation that would require the creation of any written or visual content related to this PR event nor the promotion of any products/services in exchange for attendance - but I decided to share my experience anyway as I think you'd enjoy exclusive insights from my recent gastro adventure. Any PR products/samples/food, drink/services/raffle prizes handed out by the organisers, other participants or exhibitors (if applicable) were not a form of compensation, nor part of an exchange agreement.
❗️Remember to drink responsibly, and that you must be over the minimum legal drinking age of your country. ❗️
