"Cascara" is the dried fruit of the coffee cherry. It can be steeped in water to make a tea with about the same amount of caffeine as green tea, or it can be used to flavor simple syrup for all sorts of culinary uses. Read on to learn more about Cascara and a few recipe ideas.
 
In order to understand what Cascara is, you have to know a bit about the coffee plant and how farmers process coffee. The coffee plant, when mature, produces little fruits we call cherries. These coffee cherries have a thin layer of frutiy flesh on the outside, and on the inside they contain two little seeds which we call "coffee beans". In order to isolate the coffee beans, producers need to remove the fruit from the outside using a de-pulping machine, then dry the raw beans before they can sell them to roasters (like the BOP) who cook the beans just right so they can be ground, brewed, and enjoyed.
 
So if the primary product from the coffee plant is the seed, you may ask yourself "What happens to the fruit itself?" Many coffee farmers use the fruit as compost, and use that compost to grow more coffee. But some coffee farms separate the dried fruit from the beans and sell it as cascara.
 
Here are some recipe ideas from our importer, Sustainable Harvest (see their article here for more info on each):
- Cascara Tea, for a naturally sweet, low caffeine alternative to tea any time of year
- Cascara Cold Brew, for an easy refreshing beverage to beat the heat (I like to add spices like cinnamon, clove and cardamom while it steeps)
- Cascara Simple Syrup, which can be used to add a little bit of complex fruity sweetness to anything from seltzer water to Old Fashioneds
- Replacement for raisins or other dried fruits - just re-hyrdrate the cascara in water or juice!