Cascara: the sustainable coffee fruit

What is cascara?

Cascara is the flesh and peel of the fruit which surround the coffee bean, often referred to as the cherry. The seeds inside the cherry are roasted and become coffee beans, while the outside pulp and skin are the cascara.

Usually, the skins of the coffee cherry are a waste product of harvesting coffee and are thrown out. However, by carefully separating and slowly drying, we can enjoy them as another tasty beverage.

Cascara needs to be infused and can be enjoyed as either a hot or cold tea or as a mixer when prepared as a concentrate and chilled. Our favourite is to add our variation of cascara elixir to a gin and tonic with fresh lime!

Despite coming from a coffee plant, cascara tastes nothing like coffee when brewed. Because it’s made from a dried fruit, it most closely relates to a herbal tea. Typically, the taste of cascara will resemble notes of black tea complimented by elderflower, plum or a floral component. The flavour will also be influenced by where the coffee is grown and how it’s handled, dried and brewed.