The Coffee Cherry Tea ( March 16, 2015)

We know that coffee bean is really a seed of a coffee cherry. Cherry sounds pretty sweet, right? Ever wonder where the rest of the cherry goes after coffee is taken from it? We asked the same question when we saw how the coffees are processed at an Arabica coffee farm that supplies to specialty cafes in Taiwan.

Interestingly, the fruit can actually be made into Coffee Cherry Tea, also known as Cascara; meaning “husk,” “peel” or “skin” in Spanish. It tastes nothing like coffee, more like a sweet fruit tea with various notes similar to the tastes of cranberry, rosehip, hibiscus, cherry, and redcurrant.

There is a myth about the caffeine content of cascara being much higher than coffee. Based on an experiment result provided by Square Mile Coffee, the caffeine content of cascara is rather low in comparison to brewed coffee. Even with the strongest brew strength, its caffeine content is only about 111.4 mg/L compared to the higher range of 400-800 mg/L found in brewed coffee.

Coffee cascara is not a common product even though coffee skin is an abundant by-product of coffee processing, as coffee farmers we visited told us. It requires rigorous cleaning and drying methods while preventing the product from taint and shattering, that is why most coffee farmers just discard or use them as a fertilizer.

However, the sweet result is worth working for once you had a sip. Two types of cascara; from Costa Rica and El Salvador, are now being served at Earthlings. Find out more from our baristas