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Coffee cherry tea cascara yemeni qishr
Coffee cherry tea is an herbal tea made from the dried berries (or "cherries") of the coffee plant. It is also known as cascara, from the Spanish cáscara, meaning "husk". It is different from cascara sagrada tea, a powerful plant-based laxative.
Contents
Coffee cherry tea is rarely produced for export, but is commonly drunk in some coffee-growing nations, notably Bolivia and, as the variant Qishr, in Yemen.
It is commonly consumed in Bolivia, where it is referred to as Sultana, and is made of sun-dried and lightly toasted coffee cherries. It may also be mixed with sticks of cinnamon. It is also called "the poor man's coffee", and "the coffee of the Army".
Coffee cherries contain caffeine, as does the tea, though while the tea is popularly understood to have a high level of caffeine, it actually only has about a quarter the caffeine levels of coffee. The taste of coffee cherry tea is different from coffee, and has been described as somewhat sweet and cherry flavored, surprisingly pleasant.
How to brew cascara the coffee cherry tea
Brewing
Brewing guidelines are not standardized, but 20 grams per liter of water, or approximately 5 grams per cup (8 oz, 240 ml) is suggested. When the coffee cherry tea is ground and classified to loose tea industry standard size, one teaspoon per 6 ounces of water, steeped for 5 minutes are the standard brewing instructions.
Proper brewing yields a dark red tea; brew time guidelines range from 4 minutes to 7 or 8 minutes.