There are those who love dogs and those who love cats. It’s common to meet fans of either, rarer to find people fond of both. With drinks, there’s a similar polarization; few people enjoy coffee and tea equally.
I’ve written about coffee in this tea column. For me, the enjoyment is real, but still a disappointment after that tantalising aroma. As with cigar smoking, my mouth experience pales against my nose experience. As with cigars; something of coffee, something ashen, clings to the inside of my mouth long beyond its welcome. I also love the smell of sandalwood; it is a relief not to have to put that in my mouth.
Coffee people are coffee people. This person is tea people.
OK. Maybe you’re already hating this page pretty hard. But here’s a twist: a product calling itself ‘Coffee Cherry Tea’. The best of both worlds?
As you know, a coffee ‘bean’ is actually part of a fruit. Before roasting, the white bean is hidden inside a red ‘cherry’. This cherry possesses a shiny-but-bark-like skin (a bit like mangosteen) which is usually peeled off and discarded.
- Perfect Median; China’s Take on Earl Grey
- Swallowing is Just the Beginning; Rain, Flower, Cloud!
- Sugar-Free Bottled Tea; China’s Wu Tang Clan
That discarding is a pity, I’m starting to believe – because (just like orange peel) these skins can be dried and made into something good to drink. Now, perhaps I’m being hasty, here; I’ve only tried one variety of coffee-cherry-skin-tea. And that is one made from a particularly famous variety of coffee. Maybe the cherries of ordinary coffee bushes don’t deliver.
This Janson Geisha Coffee Cherry Tea is a by-product of one of the world’s most expensive coffees. Geisha tea from Panama can cost upwards of $55 per cup in the United States (more in Dubai). And no Indonesian cats are involved.
This packet was brought to our office by a colleague interpreting for the Janson company during a China sales push. I’m very grateful to her for sharing this gift.
Here’s the blurb: Our Coffee Cherry Tea is made from the skins of the fruit of Janson Geisha. It has a sweet floral essence mirroring the flavor of hibiscus. Coffee Cherry Tea is a potent antioxidant tea and has a small amount of caffeine. The Jansons present this rare Geisha Coffee Cherry Tea for your wellness indulgence.
- Which Tea Brand Best Compliments Your Private Jet?
- Long Time, Long Jing No See
- Happy Lemon; Drink it Like a Russian
It’s unusual to cite flavor comparisons with cheaper ingredients like hibiscus; top-of-the-range products are usually compared with truffles, silk or unicorn horns. But the hibiscus comparison is a necessary one here. The drink has the colour and fruitiness of a hibiscus tisane (tisane is a tea-like drink made from a plant other than camellia sinensis).
I can vouch for the low caffeine. I really like the fruitiness and the un-burnt taste – a true mouth-filling taste for one infusion. And this is coffee, not just a nice herbal tea.
With “coffee rust” hitting supply and worldwide coffee demand exploding (that China sales
push again), I’m hoping more of the world’s coffee-cherry-skins can be used to such good effect as this.
In fact, I’m starting to taste some of that undiscovered fruitiness in roasted coffee too.
Perhaps it’s not too late to make a conversion.
