Kola Kola

Cascara, the dried skins of coffee cherries, forms the basis of Kola Kola, a cola launched in May 2025 by the Copenhagen microbrewery BRØL. Production begins with a cascara infusion, extracting aromas associated with coffee, chocolate, cherry, and hibiscus. This is followed by the addition of a house-developed blend of citrus and botanicals to complete the familiar cola profile.

Brøl was founded in 2018 by Saimon Skurichin, originally from Lithuania, who studied in Copenhagen and later established the brewery there. The name BRØL is derived from the Danish words for bread and beer and also echoes the English word “roar.” From the outset, the brewery has worked with surplus ingredients, particularly unsold bread collected from bakeries in Copenhagen, which is incorporated into its beer production.

The use of cascara in Kola Kola aligns with this approach. Cascara is a side-stream ingredient from the coffee industry, consisting of the dried outer layers of the coffee cherry removed during processing. The skins contain caffeine, though in significantly lower concentrations than the coffee bean itself, at levels comparable to green tea. Within BRØL’s range, the cola extends the brewery’s ongoing practice of treating food by-products as raw materials for beverage production.