If you google “cascara,” the first hits relate to a plant called Rhamnus purshiana, which you’ll quickly learn is a natural laxative.

We’re not talking about that cascara.

Instead, we’re talking about Coffea arabica, though not in the form we usually talk about it. Cascara is the name given to the dried fruit of the coffee plant. The seed is the part we roast, grind, and brew, and the fruit is usually discarded or composted.

There is a tradition, in some coffee growing countries, of drying these fruits into a husk, then steeping that husk and making it into a tea-like beverage.

That’s the cascara that we’re talking about.

Soon, Bow Truss will offer cascara in our retail stores, and we’ll sell 4oz. bags of Cascara for you to brew at home.

The beverage varies based on the qualities of the cascara being used, but in general, it makes a sweet, spicy, fruity tea. The cascara that we have available (from the Las Lajas mill in Costa Rica — learn more) is very sweet — notes of honey and honeysuckle dominate, and the gingery, cinnamon-spice notes take a back seat.

One more quick note before we get to the recipes: Cascara’s caffeine content is mysterious. It definitely gives a caffeine-like buzz, though a well-respected roastery in the UK recently sent their cascara to a caffeine lab and found that it contains very little caffeine — as little as a quarter to an eighth of a cup of brewed coffee. There’s no consensus in the coffee world on why this is, so we’ve just been treating cascara like coffee: Not drinking it too late in the day, unless we’re gearing up for a big night.

OK, recipes.

CASCARA COLD BREW

Soak 60g cascara in 1 gallon of cold, filtered water for 12 hours. Decant through a filter, strainer, or cheesecloth. Serve over ice. Makes a sweet, light-bodied beverage. Try it on its own or as a mixer in sodas & cocktails!

HOT CASCARA TEA

Prepare as you would a black tea, steeping 3g of cascara in 100ml of just-off-boil water for 4 minutes. Strain & drink hot.

So we just rolled out a new Ethiopia, and it’s got quite a name: Washed Ethiopia Sidama Yerga Alem.

I’ll break it down bit by bit, and then describe how it differs from the other Ethiopias in our lineup.

Ethiopia: The country where the coffee was grown.

Washed: We’ll come back to this, I promise. It’s the only non-geographic part of this coffee’s name.

Sidama: Sidama is a geograhic distinction that is similar to a U.S. state. There are some important differences, but for our purposes, it’s the next layer down from country.

Yerga Alem: The town. Now, coffee is not grown in town, but the farmers who grew this coffee brought it to the nearest town, Yerga Alem, for collection and processing.

OK, back to Washed. Coffee “beans” are the seeds of the fruit of the coffee tree. For us to get these “green” (raw, not roasted) seeds, someone has to pick the fruit, and remove the seed. This happens in a lot of different ways, and they all fall into the basket of “processing methods.”

Washing (or wet processing) is one such processing method. The fruit is removed using a mill and water soaks almost as soon as the coffee has been picked. These coffees are very common in Central America, East Africa, and another famous region of Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe. Our Ethiopia Kochere is one such coffee.
 

Sidama, though, is known for Natural (or dry processed) coffees. The fruit, with the seed inside, is allowed to sit and dry in the sun for a longer period of time. These coffees have an intense, fruit-forward, winey character. Our Decaf is a decaffeinated Natural from Sidama. And Sidama isn’t the only place known for nautral processing. Our Natural Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Aricha is, as the name indicates, a Natural from Yirgacheffe.

This new coffee, a Washed Sidama, is unusual, because its processing method is uncommon for its region. Knowing about geography and processing lets us highlight why this coffee is so special.

So there, in a nutshell, is the name of our newest coffee, and how it is different from our other offerings from Ethiopia, coffee’s genetic home.

For extra credit, taste the Ethiopia Washed Sidama Yerga Alem, and discuss with your barista how its flavor reflects its origin and/or its processing method.

From the education department:

Our account was hacked by an April Fool yesterday.

Disregard any “important coffee findings.” To learn real coffee knowledge and techniques, please consider attending our Manual Brew Class: https://bowtruss.myshopify.com/products/manual-coffee-brewing-class

Sincerely,

Greg

In short: fact. Our newest hire, as his first work responsibility, was instructed to eat only raw, green coffee beans for his first month of employment. This led to significant weight loss, and we can confirm many “weird old tips” about reducing your weight: eat green coffee!

This isn’t coffee science, but it’s common sense:

We at Bow Truss love to make things more cozy. Well now, you can be cozy despite this unusually long winter. Just pick up one of our new full-body-cozy sweaters. These fashionable, innovative garments are available at our Lakeview location for only $1!

We, and others in the specialty coffee industry, have long been proponents of freshly ground coffee. The more recent the grind, the thinking goes, the more flavor will make its way Ito the finished product. We’ve taken this philosophy to its logical conclusion, and are proud to be the first specialty coffee company to advocate for no-grind brewing. Just measure your coffee, put it into the filter, and be amazed: the intact coffee bean, robbed of NO volatile aromatics or gases, will brew a delicious cup of coffee!

Here at Bow Truss we are always pushing specialty coffee to be more delicious, more approachable, and more cozy. We’ve been hard at work doing some serious coffee science, and now, after months of work, we’re ready to present some of our findings.

Some of these new ideas fly in the face of what we’ve been taught, but rest assured, we have tested these assertions extensively.

As Barista Educator,  I am proud to be presenting the findings that our team has worked so hard to bring to light. Stay tuned to Bow Truss social media all day for these important announcements.

Thank you,
Greg Loring-Albright, Barista Educator

Don’t forget to follow Bow Truss on twitter and instagram to see our baristas Talya Strader and Greg Albright serve coffee at Ted Active in Whistler this year!

It all started when Stephanie Lock of Rustic Tart inquired about selling her pie at our Flagship store in Lakeview. It wasn’t that we didn’t find her pie absolutely delightful, it’s that we believed that something happens when an artisanal product leaves the hands of its maker. We are coffee professionals, but leave the baking at home. The next day, Stephanie came back with the idea of pop-ups. Since then, we have had different pastry vendors come in to sell their products to our customers every Saturday and Sunday in Lakeview, as well as Mon-Fri in our River North location. We have seen awesome relationships grow out of this, and have benefitted in the cross over of our vendor’s loyal fans.

What is a pop-up? Essentially, it’s a store within a store. In our case, our vendors are very independent from us. They handle all of their own payment procedures, and do not pay us to be in our space. We give them coffee, they give us treats, and we sell to the same customers. This simple idea has given us the chance to meet with all different types of people and expand our market.

We want to take the chance, now, to introduce you to our lovely vendors!

Très Jolie Pâtisserie!

Jillian has been passionate about baking and cooking for as long as she can remember. Growing up with an Austrian grandmother who always made everything from scratch, there were ample opportunities for Jillian to play the role of sous chef - and she did so with gusto. Jillian decided to study French in junior high school, fell in love with the language, and continued pursuing French all the way through college, spending her final semester in Paris. There, she spent every free moment roaming the enchanting streets, soaking in the culture and amazing food.

Back in the U.S., Jillian embarked on a lengthy copywriting career, working at a number of ad agencies in Chicago. It wasn’t until 2010 that she decided to trade in her high heels for kitchen clogs, enrolling in The French Pastry School, and following her culinary passion. Shortly after, Très Jolie Pâtisserie was born.

Working out of Kitchen Chicago, a commercially licensed shared-use kitchen, Jillian is right at home, experimenting with new recipes, ideas and flavors. Its where her creativity shines. Everything is made by hand, by Jillian. Even her croissants (her personal fave) are hand-laminated and hand-rolled - no machines involved! It’s a labor of love, but one she attends to with a smile on her face, as it brings back memories of working alongside her grandmother.

Currently, Jillian only sells her rotating menu of products through her website (tresjoliepatisserie.com), at the Nettlehorst Farmer’s Market, and when she pops up at both Bowtruss locations. Jillian loves to put together custom sweet tables and favors for clients - her products are a huge hit at weddings, birthdays, showers and corporate events. If you have a special event coming up, definitely bend her ear.

Photo credit: Très Awesome Events

Spend Valentine’s Day at our River North location!

Tony overseeing a roast in progress.

Bow Truss is pleased to welcome the newest addition to our team, Tony Grewing! Tony is a new Chicago transplant, most currently from Seattle, where he roasted coffee for specialty coffee luminary Stumptown Coffee. Tony will be joining Dennis, our Master Roaster at the controls of the Probat. We asked Tony a few questions about himself:

What do you believe good coffee should taste like? I think good cup of coffee should have a balanced and integrated profile in a way that fully represents that particular coffee.  Not balanced as in, all coffees need to have equal levels of sweetness, acidity, and body, but all three should at least be present and working together to fully express everything the coffee has to offer. 

What’s your favorite brew method and why? Recently I’ve been using an AeroPress, its quick, simple and travels well(it’s especially nice for camping). Chemex is a close second though, because I consistently get great, well-balanced coffee out of it without a painstaking brew process.

Why do you think you and Dennis will make a great team? I think we have fairly different histories and experiences with roasting and with coffee in general, and I think that that will help prevent us from only approaching coffees from single mindset, which can happen occasionally. Basically, roasting will be more of a conversation with both of us working with the coffees and roast profiles everyday.

What do you hope to bring to Bow Truss as a growing roasting company? I’ve worked at a new small coffee company before and just left a larger, more established, company, and I think I have a good perspective on where we’re coming from and, generally speaking, where we want to be. I hope I can take my past experience and apply it in a way that helps keep things going as smoothly as possible as Bow Truss continues to grow and expand.

What excites you most about living in Chicago? Probably the variety and quality of food, followed by the sheer amount of stuff there is to do. There was always stuff going on in Seattle for sure, but I’m excited to see what Chicago has to offer being a bigger city and all. Also I just recently found out Liverpool is supposedly going to be playing a friendly [exhibition soccer/football match] here this summer, so that would be pretty awesome too.

What must-have albums do we need in our record collection at Bow Truss? My answer to this question changes pretty frequently, but right now I’d say the top 5 must-haves are: Bob Dylan: Desire, Radiohead: Kid A,  Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Black Keys: Rubber Factory and… the last pick is always the toughest… I’ll go with Led Zeppelin: III.

Don’t say hi to Tony if you see him roasting—it’s an intense process requiring lots of concentration. But if you see him around town, welcome him to Chicago!

It all started when Stephanie Lock of Rustic Tart inquired about selling her pie at our Flagship store in Lakeview.  It wasn’t that we didn’t find her pie absolutely delightful, it’s that we believed that something happens when an artisanal product leaves the hands of its maker.  We are coffee professionals, but leave the baking at home.  The next day, Stephanie came back with the idea of pop-ups.  Since then, we have had different pastry vendors come in to sell their products to our customers every Saturday and Sunday in Lakeview, as well as Mon-Fri in our River North location.  We have seen awesome relationships grow out of this, and have benefitted in the cross over of our vendor’s loyal fans. 

What is a pop-up?  Essentially, it’s a store within a store.  In our case, our vendors are very independent from us.  They handle all of their own payment procedures, and do not pay us to be in our space.  We give them coffee, they give us treats, and we sell to the same customers.  This simple idea has given us the chance to meet with all different types of people and expand our market. 

We want to take the chance, now, to introduce you to our lovely vendors!

Gingersnap!

Gingersnap is one of our customer’s favorite vendors and have been asked to cater a number of our their work meetings and events.  They pop-up most Wednesdays in River North and occasionally on Saturdays in Lakeview.  Try their whirlaways… they’re delicious.

With Valentine’s Day a week away, significant others all over town want to make this year’s holiday one to remember. But how can they do so? WeDeliver’s in-house relationship guru, Love Doctor Doug…

We’re growing Bow Truss. Grow with us.
We’ve grown like crazy. Opened a second location, made our coffee available at more restaurants and cafés, and brought you select and transparently-sourced single origin coffees (and a few exciting blends, too!). For us to continue on our path of expansion and innovation, we will need to increase our roasting capacity.

The demands of our growing customer base at our coffeebars and our wholesale partners’ establishments, motivated the decision to expand. We’re seeking out a larger roaster to allow us to keep our coffee quality as high as possible. This machine will greatly increase our roasting capacity allowing more and more people to taste the delicious coffees we create.

We want you to be involved and to be a part of our growth, as so many of you have been already. We love what we do, and we think that you will too!

https://lendsquare.com/bow-truss

It all started when Stephanie Lock of Rustic Tart inquired about selling her pie at our Flagship store in Lakeview.  It wasn’t that we didn’t find her pie absolutely delightful, it’s that we believed that something happens when an artisanal product leaves the hands of its maker.  We are coffee professionals, but leave the baking at home.  The next day, Stephanie came back with the idea of pop-ups.  Since then, we have had different pastry vendors come in to sell their products to our customers every Saturday and Sunday in Lakeview, as well as Mon-Fri in our River North location.  We have seen awesome relationships grow out of this, and have benefitted in the cross over of our vendor’s loyal fans. 

What is a pop-up?  Essentially, it’s a store within a store.  In our case, our vendors are very independent from us.  They handle all of their own payment procedures, and do not pay us to be in our space.  We give them coffee, they give us treats, and we sell to the same customers.  This simple idea has given us the chance to meet with all different types of people and expand our market. 

We want to take the chance, now, to introduce you to our lovely vendors!

Glazed & Infused!

Glazed and Infused is a flavorful re-invention of the Iconic American doughnut. Handcrafted and uniquely imagined for your delight.

This relationship has been so magical for both parties involved.  Our customers love them, their customers love us, and the rest is just a party.  Glazed & Infused has been a staple for our Friday River North pop-ups, and truly make the end of each week feel like a holiday.  You know what we do for holidays, right?  Eat doughnuts!  

It all started when Stephanie Lock of Rustic Tart inquired about selling her pie at our Flagship store in Lakeview. It wasn’t that we didn’t find her pie absolutely delightful, it’s that we believed that something happens when an artisanal product leaves the hands of its maker. We are coffee professionals, but leave the baking at home. The next day, Stephanie came back with the idea of pop-ups. Since then, we have had different pastry vendors come in to sell their products to our customers every Saturday and Sunday in Lakeview. We have seen awesome relationships grow out of this, and have benefitted in the cross over our vendor’s loyal fans.

What is a pop-up? Essentially, it’s a store within a store. In our case, our vendors are very independent from us. They handle all of their own payment procedures, and do not pay us to be in our space. We give them coffee, they give us treats, and we sell to the same customers. This simple idea has given us the chance to meet with all different types of people and expand our market.

We want to take the chance, now, to introduce you to our lovely vendors!

Firstly, Rustic Tart.

Stephanie Lock has been creating delicious tarts, savory and sweet, for us since the July after we opened our doors to the Lakeview East community. She introduced us to the idea of pop-up shops, and we can’t be more grateful! As we opened our second location that next February, Stephanie was ready to set-up shop there, as well, and has helped us with our Annual Holiday Market. She is known by the community for her friendliness, charming family, and delicious creations. We now carry Rustic Tart daily at our Lakeview location in the form of pies and ready to roll dough.

Join us for the 2nd Annual Holiday Market!

Here at Bow Truss, we recognize our baristas as the first point of contact for all of our customers.  Without their friendly demeanor, passion for coffee, and ambitious initiation on new projects, we would not have been able to grow as quickly and with the same quality standards as we have to this point.  So, we want to take a moment to introduce you to the stellar crew that work, day in and day out, at the front lines, for the love of Bow Truss Coffee Roasters!

 The barista we would like to recognize next is Brian Ensminger who you might know as the extremely friendly face who greets and engages you with sincere joy and friendliness.   

 Q: How long have you worked for Bow Truss?

A: Somewhere around four or five months.

Q: Why did you want to start working for Bow Truss?

A: I was really impressed with the way the staff balanced their knowledge coffee and kindness in service. Working as a barista, it’s easy to focus on one or the other, but at Bow Truss, I saw professionals who did both really well.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of working for Bow Truss?

A: Other than the staff, I really love working with our customers. I think its amazing to have so many people who come to us that are just as excited about great coffee as our baristas.

Q: What is the most valuable lesson, coffee related or not, that you have learned while working for Bow Truss?

A: Whether it’s dialing in espresso, or shifting between confidence and humility, I think the most valuable lesson I’m continuing to learn is balance. I’m learning that balance is something that you have to focus on and work to understand, but it’s definitely not a mystery, nor impossible. Also, balance will look like different things to different people and that can be frustrating, exciting, and wonderful all at once.

Q: What do you do outside of working at Bow Truss?

A: Mostly drink coffee, spend time with my lovely girlfriend Molly, drink beers, watch movies, read stuff on the internet.

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: I enjoy nerding out about movies and television over drinks. Really nerding out about anything: coffee, books, music. Any chance I get to learn, and act like a know-it-all, I’m all about.

Q: Who is your role model and why?

A: Honestly, I have a few. I look to different people for different things, and I’m lucky to have a lot of awesome people around me (both at work and in my personal life) who provide fantastic examples of how to be great people.

Q: Tell me a strange fact about yourself!

A: Despite knowing it’s totally wrong, I pronounce the word “pillow” as “pell-oh.” I have no idea why.

While Bow Truss and Brian have been friends for a while, he just recently joined our team recently.  You know him for his big smile, memory of your drink, and willingness to talk with you all day.  We appreciate his dedication to quality coffee, quality service, and desire to make himself better each day.

Today!  Come grab your 1st of many pounds of Hearth Blend!