Thursday, October 24, 2019

What The Heck Is Cascara?

The other day I was ordering lunch at restaurant and I noticed they had a drink that contained something called cascara on the menu. I had no idea what that was (and the person taking my order wasn't much help).  Because I was in an adventurous mood I went ahead and ordered the drink, which was refreshing, sweet, and fruity, with notes of cherry and red current.

I came home and did some research, and learned that cascara is made from the fruit of coffee cherries... another name for the berries produced by coffee trees. After the coffee beans are removed from the cherries the leftover pulp and skins used to be tossed. To make cascara they're dried Then they can be brewed for tea, or made into a syrup and added to other drinks.

Raw coffee beans and leftover cherry from Wikipedia

Five years ago today: Holy "Mole-y"
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11 comments:

  1. Kathy's KlotheslineOctober 24, 2019 at 10:10 PM

    That is interesting! Sounds good, but is this drink caffeinated?

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    Replies
    1. Kathy GOctober 25, 2019 at 8:18 AM

      It has just a portion of the caffeine of coffee, so just a little kick.

      Delete
  2. ChristineOctober 24, 2019 at 11:47 PM

    Would love to try this, new to me too.

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  3. Victor S E MoubarakOctober 25, 2019 at 4:51 AM

    I guess that's because the coffee bean is in fact the seed; and the jelly covering is to protect it. Like in pomegranate.

    God bless.

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    Replies
    1. Kathy GOctober 25, 2019 at 8:19 AM

      I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're completely right! Thanks.

      Delete
  4. TeriOctober 25, 2019 at 9:21 PM

    Hmmmmm... I'll keep an eye out for it. Any coffee flavor to it?

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    Replies
    1. Kathy GOctober 26, 2019 at 8:56 AM

      I couldn't really taste any. Maybe a hint of chocolate?

      Delete
  5. KayOctober 26, 2019 at 1:05 AM

    No kidding? I had no idea. We have even been to several coffee farms here in Hawaii and I thought the berries were just fed to livestock.

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    Replies
    1. Kathy GOctober 26, 2019 at 8:56 AM

      And none of my research mentioned that use for the berries.

      Delete
  6. SandiOctober 25, 2024 at 8:13 AM

    Hm...I will be on the outlook for them. Look out, I mean. Wow. How did I switch that around?

    ReplyDelete