With a surprising flavor like earthy, tart raisins, cascara is the dried fruit of the coffee tree – what’s left over after farmers remove the green coffee beans.  Typically considered a byproduct, it’s tough to find cascara that is handled and produced with as much care as the coffee bean inside it.
 Our Nicaraguan cascara is something special.  Grown and harvested at Finca Los Congos, the coffee fruits are left whole and sun-dried for a month before removing the beans.  The fruits are then sorted and left to age for at least six more months to develop and concentrate their flavors.
 People drink cascara around the world from Yemen to Central America, plain or laced with spices and fruit.

 

HOW TO
Proportions and brew time vary depending on the type and cut of cascara.  These instructions show our favorite way to highlight the tart, fruity flavor of this particular cascara without making it bitter and weird.  Although simmering cascara isn’t a good idea (trust us) it’s okay to use boiling water as water cools rapidly as you pour it into a cup or mug.

 

HOT BREW

Steep 2 tablespoons (10 g) in 8-10 ounces of boiling water for 5 minutes.

 

CONCENTRATE
Use this method for the recipes shown below or serve over ice.

Steep ¼ cup (18 g) cascara in 8 fluid ounces of boiling water for 5 minutes. 

 

 

Cascara Horchata

3 oz Cascara concentrate
3 oz Rice milk
3 oz Almond milk
Simple syrup (optional)
Nutmeg
Cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and shake well; serve over ice.  Garnish with a pinch of cinnamon.  On chilly days, mix all ingredients and steam until hot.

Cascara Punch

3 oz Cascara concentrate
1.5 oz Pineapple juice
0.5 oz Cinnamon whiskey
Ginger ale

Shake first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker, pour over ice in a highball and float ginger ale on top.  Garnish with a pineapple slice.