# Volatile, Microbial, and Sensory Profiles and Consumer Acceptance of Coffee Cascara Kombuchas
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Sensory Tests
#### 3.4.2 Consumer Acceptance and Purchase Intent Test Scores  
Because of the variability in acceptance scores, the mean acceptance (6.0 \(\pm\) 0.14) was similar for all CCB K, with no statistical difference. Similar results were obtained for CCN K, except for sample 3d, which scored 7.0, with 89% of the scores between 6 and 9 (Figure 7A); therefore, all samples were accepted. Purchase intent results followed the same trend (Figure 7B). According to [PERSON] et al. [32], for a sample to be considered \"well-accepted\", it must obtain an Acceptance Index (AI) equal to or higher than 70%. CCN d3 reached 78% AI, while other samples had AI between 63% and 69%. Therefore, CCN K d3 was the only generally well-accepted kombucha. Such higher acceptance is probably derived from the higher amount of sugar, highlighted by the lower acidity and volatile compounds with sweet, floral, and fruity notes in the infusion used for kombucha preparation, given that these are suitable attributes for kombucha in general [95]. Brazilians in general are used to sweeter beverages, a habit inherited from the Portuguese colonizers who are now educated by the European public health agencies to lower sugar consumption, just like other European countries [117]. The United States (US) follows the low sugar trend [118]. As mentioned previously, the amount of sugar contained in the kombucha market in the US and Europe can be considerably low, which makes this beverage an excellent replacement for soft drinks and other nutritionally poor beverages, usually containing more than 10 g sugar/100 mL. It is worth mentioning that in preliminary tests, the fermentation period necessary to achieve the desired sensory characteristics was related to the proportion of starter and other ingredients, type and variety of raw materials, size of the bottle, volume of kombucha, and so forth. Longer fermentation with a lower initial amount of sugar and the addition of low glycemic index sweeteners will probably reach the same desirable sensory result as the product developed in this study. Because people have different tastes and experiences and cannot be represented by a mean score, we performed a cluster analysis to identify different niches of consumers. Two clusters were identified:  
Cluster 1 (\(n\) = 45, mean score = 7.3, and AI = 81%) consistently attributed the highest scores to CCB K d9 (mostly male, acceptance mean = 7.8) and CCN K d3 (mostly female, acceptance mean = 7.5). This cluster was composed of 52% male and 48% female. Forty-two percent of them were 18-24 years old. Forty-nine percent had higher education, and 38% had a family monthly income of 2-3 MW. In this cluster, 8% of the assessors were kombucha consumers. The women's attribution of higher scores to CCN K d3 may be related to the fact they regularly drank sweetened (36%) teas with fruity notes, consumed other sweet beverages such as soft drinks (36%), and reported low consumption of sparkling water (17%), sparkling wine/cider (15%), and tonic water (15%). [PERSON] et al. [2] also have  
Figure 7: Mean acceptance (**A**) and purchase intention (**B**) scores of CC Ks by Rio de Janeiro consumers \(n\) = 113). Note: CCB K: coffee cascara from Brazil; CCN K: kombucha made with coffee cascara from Nicaragua; d3: day 3 of fermentation; d6: day 6; d9: day 9. Different letters over the bars indicate significant statistical difference between them. recently observed that women aged 18-34 habitually consume fruity teas, confirming data from the Brazilian Institute of Statistics and Geography (IBGE) [119]. Because our assessors were mostly women (61%), this could be the main reason why CCN K d3 received the highest average score. The men's attribution of higher scores to CCB K d9 can be explained by the high consumption of different sparkling and fermented beverages. This sample was not only more acidic, but it also had a high intensity mean for bitter taste and sparkling mouthfeel. Beer, sparkling water, and tonic water are bitter and sparkling beverages.