What Is Cascara? Coffee Cherry Tea, Caffeine and How to Brew It

Cascara is a tea-like drink made from the dried skins and fruit of the coffee cherry, the part that surrounds the coffee bean. Instead of being thrown away after the beans are removed, the husks are dried and steeped in hot water. Cascara tastes sweet and fruity, often like hibiscus, cherry, raisin, rosehip or tamarind, and has some caffeine, roughly 25 to 40 mg in an 8 oz cup, well under the 96 mg in a cup of brewed coffee. The name is Spanish for “husk” or “peel,” and you will also see it sold as coffee cherry tea.

Not to be confused with cascara sagrada. Cascara sagrada is the bark of a buckthorn tree, used as a herbal laxative. It has nothing to do with coffee. This guide is about coffee cherry cascara.

What Does Cascara Taste Like?

Cascara tastes nothing like coffee. Because the husks are dried, not roasted, there are no toasty or bitter notes. Expect a light, sweet, fruity cup, a bit like a cross between hibiscus tea and dried fruit, with gentle acidity. Common notes are red cherry, raisin, rosehip, tamarind, mango and honey, and some lots have a tea-like or tobacco finish. Like coffee, cascara varies with the farm, variety and processing, so one from Panama may taste quite different from one from Ethiopia.

How Much Caffeine Is in Cascara?

Caffeine in cascara varies widely with the coffee, how the husks were dried and how long you steep them. Lab tests have measured very different levels, but a typical 8 oz cup has roughly 25 to 40 mg: about the same as green tea or a little less than black tea, and much less than coffee.

How Cascara Is Made

A coffee cherry has a thin skin, a layer of sweet fruit pulp, a sticky mucilage and, inside, two seeds, the coffee beans. Cascara is made from the skin and pulp. On farms that make it, ripe cherries are picked, the beans are removed, and the skins and pulp are dried in the sun on patios or raised beds, or in mechanical dryers, until they are dry and leathery. They are then sorted and packed. Careful drying matters: husks that dry too slowly can grow mold, so good cascara comes from farms that treat it as a food product rather than a byproduct.

Most specialty cascara comes from washed coffee, where the fresh cherry is pulped and the skins dried separately. Husks from naturally processed coffee, where the whole cherry dries around the bean, are also used, especially in Yemen and Ethiopia. See our guides to coffee processing methods and honey-processed coffee.

Where Cascara Comes From

Coffee husk drinks are old. In Yemen, qishr, a drink of dried coffee husks often spiced with ginger, has been made for centuries, and similar husk drinks are made in Ethiopia. In Bolivia, a husk drink called sultana has a long history. Specialty cascara, sold by origin like coffee beans, grew popular in the 2010s, with lots from El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Bolivia and others.

The coffee fruit makes up much of each cherry, and on most farms it is composted, used as fertilizer or simply discarded, where it can pollute rivers. Selling it as cascara gives farmers an extra source of income from the same harvest. In 2022 the European Union approved dried coffee cherry pulp for infusions as a traditional food, which has made cascara easier to sell in Europe.

How to Brew Cascara

Brew cascara like loose-leaf tea. A French press is the easiest tool, but a teapot with a strainer works too. Because the husks are light and bulky, weighing them gives much more consistent results than measuring by the spoon.

Iced cascara: brew double strength (30 g to 300 ml) and pour it over a glass full of ice. Cold brew cascara: steep about 1:15, for example 40 g in 600 ml of cold water, in the fridge for 12 to 16 hours, then strain. It keeps about a week in the fridge, like cold brew coffee. Cascara also makes a good syrup for lattes and sodas: simmer equal parts strong cascara tea and sugar until the sugar dissolves.

Is Cascara Good for You?

Coffee cherry pulp is rich in polyphenols, including chlorogenic acid, the same family of antioxidants found in coffee. Lab studies are promising, but there is little research on what drinking cascara does in people, so treat claims of specific health benefits with caution. What is clear is that cascara is a low-calorie, unsweetened drink with moderate caffeine, a good option if you want something lighter than coffee in the afternoon. If you avoid caffeine, remember that cascara is not caffeine-free.

How to Buy and Store Cascara

• Buy from specialty roasters or importers that list the origin and farm, the same way you would buy good coffee.
• Look at the husks: they should be dry, leathery, reddish-brown to dark brown and smell fruity. Avoid any that smell musty or show white or green mold.
• Store it like tea: in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place. Use it within about a year for the best flavor.

Cascara is a good way to taste another side of the coffee plant. For more ways the plant is used beyond the bean, see our guides to coffee chaff and eating coffee beans, or explore coffee flavor profiles around the world.