Cascara

Cascara is a tisane brewed from the dried skins and pulp of the coffee cherry — the fruit that surrounds the coffee bean — steeped in hot water to give a clear amber-to-reddish infusion that tastes of dried fruit rather than roasted coffee. Its name is simply the Spanish word for "husk" or "peel", and for centuries the fruit was a discarded by-product of coffee harvesting; today it is prized as a specialty drink in its own right, a bridge between tea and coffee. Lightly caffeinated and naturally sweet-tart, it steeps up with aromas of raisin, cherry, rosehip, hibiscus and dark honey, and a bright, juicy acidity that reads more like a fruit tea than a cup of coffee. It is drunk hot as a delicate infusion, served iced and lightly sweetened as a refreshment, and increasingly used by baristas as a syrup or spritz base.