One of the rising variants of coffee is coffee cherry tea. It is becoming popular in various coffee shops around the world. So, is it tea or coffee? Technically, it is coffee. This is because tea is made from the leaves of the plant known as Camellia sinensis.
On the other hand, cascara is a Spanish word that translates to husk or skin. Hence, it is made from the husk of the coffee fruit.
Coffee Cherries
Cascara coffee is made from coffee cherries that are mainly harvested for the beans. However, once they are roasted to be sold as coffee, the pulpy skin or husk of these cherries is used to make this coffee.
This type of coffee has a fruity flavor that also tastes like raisins. Since it has quite a distinctive taste that is not similar to coffee, it is mostly considered a cross between tea and coffee.
Cascara in the United States
You might have heard about cascara cherry tea in the US for the first time, but it is quite famous in various other parts of the world. According to coffee encyclopedias, coffee harvests in Yemen and Ethiopia pertinently include drying the cherries and using their dried husks for brewing this type of coffee.
From Yemen and Ethiopia, this coffee also became popular among the coffee farmers in South America, such as El Salvador and Bolivia.
How is Cascara Coffee Made?
As most types of teas are brewed, cascara coffee is also prepared by soaking the dried coffee cherries in hot water. Since it is still considered relatively new in the US, there is no standard recipe for brewing it. This implies that as a barista, you can experiment with this coffee a lot.
However, the general guidelines instruct that you use about two heaped tablespoons of cascara coffee cherries along with about eight ounces of water for boiling. Since cascara coffee cherries are already very sweet, it is entirely your personal choice to add additional sugar or honey. Most experienced baristas recommend adding a little ginger or nutmeg, or cinnamon to add more flavor to this coffee.
There is no compulsion about serving this coffee only as a hot beverage. It can certainly be brewed cold as well. For this, you can use about six tablespoons of cascara coffee cherries per 10 ounces of cold water. Once mixed, place the coffee and cold water in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. After that, you can strain and have your delicious cup of cold coffee.
Purchasing Cascara Coffee
When purchasing this coffee to make your coffee cherry tea, do not get confused with cascara sagrada. Though the names might be similar, cascara sagrada is nothing similar to cascara coffee cherries. The former is often used as a laxative obtained from a dried tree bark found in California. Although rare, you can still find cascara coffee cherries in numerous cafes or coffee shops.
