Cascara Tea Experiment

July 29 2020
·
Written by Takumi Sakamoto
Cascara Tea Experiment
July 29 2020
·
Written by Takumi Sakamoto

Cascara Tea Experiment

 

There are so many ways to brew Cascara tea just like filter coffee.

 

So I did a little quick experiment to find out the best recipe for Cascara Tea.

This is my first time brewing Cascara Tea, so I don't claim to have the best recipe.

But the fundamental of figuring out the recipe is exactly same as brewing coffee, or even roasting for that matter. 

 

Eliminate the variables.

 

In case of brewing filter coffee, I always recommend to lock in the brew technique, water temp, brew ratio. That way you can dial-in purely adjusting the grind setting.

 

For Cascara, the size of the dried cherry is already set by the farmer. (I know someone grind Cascara to smaller pieces to get higher extraction. But not this time.)

So I am going to only play with water to cascara ratio.

Here are things I don't change:

  • Water temp (96C)
  • Steep time (4min)
  • Brewing method (Full-immersion)


I made 3 cups with different brew ratios which are:

A. 1:20 (10g of Cascara for 200g of water)
B. 1:16 (12.5g of Cascara for 200g of water)
C. 1:12 (16.6g of Cascara for 200g of water)

 

Here are my tasting notes:

Cup A (1:20) 

Notes: Cherry, hint of honey, very watery, finish is sweet
   Acidity ●●○○○
   Body ●●○○○
   Sweetness ●●○○○
   Balance ●●●●○ 

Cup B (1:16) 

Notes: Sweet, cherry, honey, heavy, slight savoury finish
   Acidity ●●●●○
   Body ●●●●○
   Sweetness ●●●●○
   Balance ●●○○○ 

 

Cup C (1:12) 

Notes: Savoury, sour cherry, honey, super thick, sickly sweet,
   Acidity ●●●○○
   Body ●●●●●
   Sweetness ●●●●○
   Balance ●○○○○ 

 

Conclusion
I wouldn't recommend to use 1:12 ratio for sure. It tastes sickly sweet and savoury, acidity became too intense and sour. Totally off balance.

 

While the 1:16 ratio gives you great sweetness and body, I felt it was still too much, and the balance was slightly off.
1:20? Ummm, bit flat.

 

So here you go.
For this particular Geisha Cascara Tea from 'Hacienda La Esmeralda'

 

For 2 cups (ratio 1:18):
  1. Put 22g of Cascara in a tea pot
  2. Pour 400g of hot water (96C)
  3. Steep 4min
  4. Strain the Cascara and enjoy!

 

Please share your recipe if you have one ; )

 

 

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