Cascara, also called coffee cherry tea, is an herbal tea brewed from the dried fruit of the coffee plant. It tastes fruity and naturally sweet, with about 25mg of caffeine per cup, roughly a quarter of coffee and close to green tea.
Every coffee bean grows inside a fruit. The world keeps the bean and throws the fruit away. We dried ours, steeped it, and got something we did not expect: tamarind, dried cherry, and dark fruit, with hints of golden raisin and a soft tartness at the edge. The exact taste is hard to pin down. It does not line up neatly with any other tea, and that is half the reason to try it.
It is coffee, technically. The bean you know is the seed inside this fruit. There is no roast, though, so nothing is bitter or sharp, and there are no jitters. Think fruit tea, clean and lightly sweet, with none of the sugar.
An afternoon cup that still lets you sleep.
This is our first batch, and a small one. If it moves, we bring it back from more farms and keep it around. The first month decides.
How to brew it
Hot. One sachet or a heaping tablespoon of loose leaf per cup. Pour water just off the boil, around 200°F. Steep 4 to 5 minutes, then strain. Drink it as is, or add a little honey.
Iced. Brew it hot and strong, then pour over ice. A slice of lemon works.
Cold brew. Loose leaf in cold water overnight in the fridge, 12 to 24 hours. Strain and serve over ice. This is the sweetest way to drink it.
What it is
- A tea made from the dried coffee cherry, the fruit around the bean
- Notes of tamarind, dried cherry, and dark fruit, with hints of golden raisin
- About a quarter the caffeine of coffee, close to green tea
- Naturally sweet, nothing added
- No CBD in this one
- Cascara means husk in Spanish
Questions
Is this coffee or tea?
Both and neither. It comes from the coffee plant, but you steep it like tea and it tastes like fruit, not coffee.
Can you steep it more than once?
Yes. Loose leaf takes a second steep, lighter than the first and still sweet.
How many cups does a bag make?
About 22 from the 4oz (113g) loose leaf and about 68 from the 12oz (340g), at a heaping tablespoon (5g) per cup. The sachet box makes 8, one per sachet.
Where does it come from?
This batch is sourced from Honduras, dried from the fruit of the coffee harvest. Cascara has a long history brewed on its own, from qishr in Yemen to the highlands of Ethiopia.
Does it have CBD?
Not this one. Straight coffee cherry tea, and not to be confused with cascara sagrada, an unrelated plant sold as a laxative.
Learn more about cascara
- What is cascara tea?
- How much caffeine is in cascara tea?
- What does cascara tea taste like?
- Cascara tea vs coffee: caffeine and taste
- Cascara tea recipes: how to brew it
- What is upcycled coffee?
Product information
- A food, not a supplement. Cascara is the dried fruit of the coffee cherry, brewed as an herbal infusion. It is sold as a food and beverage, not as a dietary supplement or a drug, and nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
- Contains caffeine. Naturally caffeinated, about 25mg per cup, roughly a quarter of a cup of coffee. If you are pregnant, nursing, sensitive to caffeine, or managing a health condition, check with your healthcare provider before drinking.
- Not cascara sagrada. This is coffee cherry from the Coffea plant, not cascara sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana), an unrelated plant sold as a laxative.
- Allergens. Single ingredient: dried coffee cherry. Contains no major allergens (no milk, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, or sesame).
- Storage. Store in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight, and keep out of reach of children.
