Revolutionising Coffee Grounds Recycling with Realizzato Coffee Liqueur

Realizzato is a groundbreaking coffee liqueur from Brighton-based brewer Murray & Yeatman – thought to be the first type of alcohol in 400 years to use a completely new fermentation process – and through Recorra, it could be made from your spent coffee grounds. 

In this blog we explain everything a person needs to know about this exciting new product. Learn how we can help your business waste less and recycle more while creating a premium-tasting liqueur. 

What is Realizzato?

Realizzato is not your traditional coffee liqueur, but a coffee liqueur made entirely by upcycling coffee grounds. To make it, Murray & Yeatman cleans the grounds of impurities or foreign materials. Realizzato distinguishes itself by employing hydrolysis – the process of breaking molecules apart using water – before fermentation. Hydrolysis breaks down the complex molecules within coffee grounds to release fermentable sugars and ensures minimal waste whilst maximising flavour extraction. After hydrolysis and fermentation, Realizzato is triple distilled to remove any impurities while preserving flavour.

Why is Realizzato so Innovative

Realizzato is the first alcohol in 400 years to use a new fermentation process. Rather than fermenting glucose, as is the case with other alcohols, Realizzato breaks down the coffee grounds into sucrose to be fermented into beer. By making their alcohol this way, Realizzato offers consumers an authentic and aromatic coffee flavour that is absent in other beverages.  

Aside from the new fermentation process, Realizzato is also innovative for its use of circular economy principles. By partnering with Recorra, Realizzato is able to craft its signature liqueur using spent coffee grounds that would otherwise be sent off for incineration, releasing pollutants like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and reducing recycling.  

The Problem with Coffee Grounds

Over six million tonnes of wasted coffee grounds are produced annually, and the UK alone produces 500,000 tonnes a year. Coffee grounds are a common culprit of contamination in Mixed Recycling, which results in recyclable materials getting thrown away in General Waste because they can no longer be recycled.  

You would be forgiven for thinking that because coffee grounds are organic, they can be mixed with other organic waste, but this can cause its own problems. Different composting processes mean that mixing coffee grounds with food or garden waste results in products of inferior quality. 

This is where Realizzato comes into the picture.

Benefits to Businesses?

Businesses who chose to adopt Recorra’s coffee grounds waste service will see savings in the volume and weight of General Waste. From 2028, there will also likely be a tax on Energy-from-Waste as part of the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme. As coffee grounds are a big source of contamination – which results in recycling going to incineration instead – adopting a separate service for coffee grounds can help businesses avoid having to shoulder additional costs.

Why Recorra Partnered with Realizzato

Recorra partnered with Realizzato because they are taking action to make the world a more sustainable place, helping fulfil Recorra’s ultimate goal of creating a zero-waste world. Recorra customers can participate by subscribing to Recorra’s coffee ground recycling service. Coffee grounds collected through this service will be delivered to Realizzato and used to produce coffee liqueur. 

Making a zero-waste world possible will require a lot of innovation, so Recorra is always on the lookout for businesses such as Realizzato who develop unique ways to tackle waste.

How You Can Get involved

If you’re interested in taking part, you can reach Recorra to set up a collection for their coffee grounds here. If you want to experience Realizzato’s flavour profile of smooth natural coffee sweetness with notes of caramel and dark chocolate, you can purchase a bottle at Realizzato’s website here.