Cascara is the dried fruit from the coffee cherry. You brew it in a similar fashion to tea.
Tastes like:
Super sweet, prunes, raisins, cherry.
Origin:
Community of San Fernando in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua.
Cascara de Café
This coffee cherry tea or “cascara” does not originate from the tea plant. Instead it can only be derived as a side-product from high quality coffee production. During the naturals process the coffee bean is dried still inside the cherry, to be milled only after it reaches the destined humidity of 12-13%. The remaining husk of the coffee is called “cascara” in Spanish and is a natural side product used for preparing a unique tea.
Throughout the natural drying process which last between 12-25 days the fruit will provide an additional fermentation on the drying beds, changing the flavor profile through the additional sugars of the fruit. The cascara therefore has a fruity and slightly fermented but pleasant smell and flavor.
Before shipping in Nicaragua the local agency for food sanitation of agricultural export (IPSA) requires fumigation treatment of the cascara.
The cherries come from the beautiful farm Santa Maria de Lourdes in the Dipilto-Jalapa Mountain Range in the North of Nicaragua. This farm has coffee growing in many different varieties, which are harvested throughout the season from December to March. The farm has a Rainforest Alliance certification and only uses mild triazol based fungicides and soil nutrition to protect the coffee plants from diseases.
