Qishr — Yemen's original cascara

Before coffee as we drink it today, there was Qishr. In the mountains of Yemen, the dried skin of the cherry is infused, often with ginger and cardamom.

Yemen is the cradle of cultivated coffee: it is from here that the drink set out to conquer the world. Qishr stayed at home — the everyday drink in many producing villages.

The world now calls it cascara, the Spanish word for "husk". It is the same infusion: Yemeni Qishr, under another name.