October

Grown by the earth of Vietnam. Finished by fire, in Japan.

From a quiet house in Fukuoka.

In the house now

The story of one fruit

One fruit, two cups

From the morning mist of Da Lat to your cup.

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The highland mist

Da Lat, Lâm Đồng, 1,400–1,600 m. Mornings open in mist, days are strong with sun, nights turn cold. That swing lets the fruit ripen slowly.

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The red fruit

A ripe coffee cherry turns the red of brick. Even on one branch, each fruit ripens in its own time. The harvest runs from November to January.

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Picking

So it cannot all be picked at once. Only the fruit that has turned red is chosen, and picked by hand.

Seed → coffee

Skin → cascara

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Two roads

Once picked, the fruit is parted into seed and skin. From here, there are two roads.

Seed → coffee: Dried on raised beds with a little of the fruit left on (honey process), roasted at a partner roastery in Japan, and packed into drip bags.
Skin → cascara: Dried, it becomes cascara. Pour hot water over it and it is a tea of the fruit.

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Honey process

No honey goes into it. Once the skin is off, the seed is still wrapped in fruit flesh, sticky as honey — that feel is where the name comes from. Instead of washing it off, the seeds are dried on raised beds with it still on. As they dry, the sweetness of the fruit stays close to the seed, and the cup is said to come out sweeter and rounder than a washed coffee. It takes more work, and a misread sky lets it ferment too far.

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