Cascara - Coffee Cherry Tea

We are really excited to be in a position to offer Cascara to our customers!

This is a wonderful by-product of coffee production which can be used to make a delicious brewed tea. Simply put, Cascara is the dried coffee cherry, minus the seed which we are all so familiar with. When coffee is processed naturally, the cherry dries and can be separated from the seed. At this point, the discarded skin and mucilage are usually repurposed as an organic fertiliser. Alternatively, the dried coffee cherries can be rehydrated in hot water and turned into a tasty beverage that is naturally low in caffeine. Cascara brew reminds us of the sweet, fragrant notes of rooibos tea which then cool into the gentle fruit acidity. Perhaps surprisingly, this tastes nothing like coffee at all!

This particular batch of cascara comes to us from Burundi, via our partners at Omwani, and it is fitting to launch it alongside our new Burundi Migoti Hill Lot 21 single origin coffee. The varietal is Red Bourbon, one of the most stable and well performing coffees, especially prised for its quality at higher altitudes. As a by-product, and following changes with associated  legislation, we are now in a position to use the cascara to generate charitable donations for an impactful water project at origin. The Kinama Clean water system is a multi-phase project which will pump fresh spring water, year-round, to local communities. Phase 1 involves the construction of a 50m³ reservoir near the Kinama washing station, along with a pre-fabricated hydraulic ram pump to deliver the water uphill and into the reservoir. Phase 2 will focus on the construction of a 5km gravity-fed pipeline, to supply five different communities in the local area via 10 community water points. The final phase of the project is to build a further 10km of pipeline to supply an even larger community with clean spring water.

We recommend a starting recipe of 5g of cascara and 200g of filtered water (approx. 93ºC ). Let this steep in a loose-leaf teapot, with occasional stirring, for 4 minutes.

Alternative beverage options include an overnight ‘cold-brew’ style infusion to make a delicious iced drink, or steeping the cascara with spices and steaming with milk to create a cascara latte. Finally, if you are curious, you could attempt regional cascara drinks such as qishir from Yemen, brewing with added ginger and cinnamon.

We hope to build interest in this wonderful by-product of the coffee industry. It provides an excellent opportunity for us to directly support meaningful work within our production communities. This brings the consumer that little bit closer to the producer which is something we strive to achieve.

If you are interested in finding out more, if you have recipe ideas, or you want to acquire more cascara, please reach out to us HERE. We are especially keen to hear from wholesale clients who might want to bring cascara to their customers, via brewing and mixology. The more traction we can gain with cascara, the more we can support the Kinama Clean Water Project!

GET IT NOW!