Is it tea, coffee or even both? The world itself means ‘husk’ and you can say that it is a coffee cherry tea. Cascara is often described as having a sweet, fruity taste with notes of rose hip, hibiscus, cherry, red current, mango or even tobacco.
How it is made?
Well, the pulped skins are collected after the seed of a coffee berry is removed. They are then dried in and you have the product called Cascara!
Tea vs Cascara
These dried bags of coffee cherries are not unlike bags of tea - the main visual difference is that the pieces of cherries are slightly bigger than a tea leaf and have a leathery and woody look. Also Cascara contains caffeine, but you cannot say that it is a coffee. It is still mostly considered as a second product of a coffee making process and that’s why it is not as popular as coffee. Most of the times Cascara is prepared as tea and if you leave it for several hours in contact with water, unlike coffee beans, you won’t get a higher percentage of caffeine in the drink. Moreover, it’s super tasty cold or can be made as a carbonated drink (such as cascara lemonade). So now these berries are being reused to produce a unique drink of their own. You can even find a chocolate bars with Cascara!
Is it popular?
Although this coffee cherry tea is still searching for its place in industry, Cascara is definitely getting more and more attention between coffee lovers.