Greetings friends,
We’ve just made it back to Revelstoke after a week in Vancouver, where we had the chance to connect with some of our wholesale partners and spend time with the people who drink our coffee beyond our town. We joined the team at Union Market, where Holm is their main espresso on rotation, for a morning of pour-overs and conversation. It’s always such a nice feeling to meet people who know our coffee but not our space, and to hear what they’re tasting, what they’re curious about, and how they’re experiencing it in a completely different setting.
Thanks to everyone who came by, asked questions, and hung out at the counter with us. It really does mean a lot.
Those kinds of moments are a big part of why we do this. Long before Holm, we both spent years working with flavour in different ways - Simon behind the bar, Izzy in wine - and those early influences shape how we think about coffee now. We’re always looking for ways to bring people into it, whether that’s through a conversation, a new flavour, or something a bit more playful and unexpected.
With spring settling in, we’re bringing back one of our favourite ways to do exactly that: CASCARA.
Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t realize that coffee comes from a fruit.
The seed (bean) we roast is pulled from a small cherry, and once those seeds are removed, what’s left behind is the skin and pulp, known as cascara. The word comes from Spanish, meaning shell or husk, and when you brew it as a tea, it’s bright and fruit-forward, with notes closer to cherry, hibiscus, and dried fruit than anything you’d expect from coffee.
We source our cascara through one of our favourite partners, Billy at Common Goal, who brings it in from farmer Ricardo Zelaya in Guatemala. It’s not always the easiest thing to get our hands on, which makes it feel a bit special when it comes around.
What we love about it, too, is that while cascara - and even just the idea of different flavours in coffee - can feel new here, it has a long history elsewhere. In places like Ethiopia and Yemen, coffee has been brewed with spices like ginger, cardamom, or cinnamon for centuries, creating drinks that are layered, aromatic, and deeply tied to local traditions of flavour. Around the world, coffee hasn’t always been approached the same way it is in North America, and part of what excites us is finding small ways to bring that broader perspective into the shop.
Our seasonal drinks are one way for us to get nerdy and play with that!
This year, we’re bringing cascara back as the base for a house cordial. We brew it as a tea, then work it with citrus peel & juice, malic & citric acid, and sugar to bring everything into balance. Served with soda water, with or without espresso, it lands somewhere bright, citrusy, and lightly sweet, with that cherry note running through it.
Alongside it, we’re leaning a little further into those global flavour traditions with a grapefruit and cumin drink, available on its own or paired with cold brew. We know it sounds a bit out there, but trust us on this one. Once you taste it, it clicks. Bright, slightly bitter, a little savoury, and really refreshing. Perfect for a post-ride patio session.
If you’re around, come by and try one of the new drinks, or just sit in the sun for a bit.
See you soon,
Simon and Izzy
P.S. You may notice a couple of new (and familiar) faces behind the bar. A warm welcome to Amber and Owen, who have joined us over the past few months. We’re really happy to have them join our crew.
