Transforming Coffee Cherry Husks into Cascara Tea for Community Empowerment in Kalisat Kidul Village

Abstract

This activity aims to develop cascara tea products as an innovative solution for utilizing coffee husk waste for community empowerment in Kalisat Kidul Village by transforming waste that has been an environmental problem into high economic value products through product diversification based on circular economy principles and zero waste concepts. The method used is a quantitative descriptive approach conducted in July-August 2025 with cascara tea processing using two drying methods, namely oven at 60°C for 6 hours and roasting method, accompanied by product quality evaluation through moisture content testing and organoleptic testing with aroma, color, and taste parameters using 20 panelists, as well as interviews with coffee industry practitioners and local communities to measure the level of community acceptance. The results show that both drying methods produce quality cascara tea with moisture content meeting herbal tea standards (<12%), where the oven method produces moisture content of 9-11% with fresh fruity aroma characteristics and natural sweet taste like berries while the roasting method produces moisture content of 8-10% with bold and earthy flavor profiles and smoky aroma, with very positive community acceptance reaching 85% of respondents interested in developing this product as a village flagship, economic analysis shows an increase in coffee husk waste selling value up to 3-4 times with profit margins 40-60% higher, and cascara tea has high bioactive compound content including polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins making it a functional beverage with natural antioxidant potential. It can be concluded that processing coffee husk waste into cascara tea proves to be an effective community empowerment strategy with positive multiplier effects that successfully implements circular economy principles while creating sustainable economic opportunities for coffee farmers, supported by the trend of increasing cascara demand in the global market by 18% in the last three years which provides great opportunities for local products to enter the international specialty beverage market, so that for development optimization it requires the implementation of good manufacturing practices, standardization of production processes, and synergy between academics, industry, and government in realizing sustainable community empowerment models.