The bright, astringent juice of the cashew apple — the fruit the cashew nut hangs from. A vitamin-C-rich West African and Brazilian diaspora drink most people never knew existed beyond the nut.
The cashew (cajú) is West African and Brazilian — the nut traveled the world, but the fruit and its juice stayed close to home in the diaspora. Bringing cashew apple juice into the database reclaims a whole West African fruit the global market discarded in favor of the nut alone.
The cashew apple — the fleshy fruit the nut grows from — is extraordinarily high in vitamin C, far higher than citrus, making its juice a potent immune and antioxidant drink. Its tannins and polyphenols are anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial (West African folk medicine uses cashew apple for sore throats and digestive complaints), and its vitamin C enhances iron absorption, relevant to anemia. The fruit is astringent and highly perishable, which is exactly why the world knows the nut but not the juice — it rarely survives export. Naturally tart, so it needs little or no added sugar in a rehabilitated form.
Press or blend ripe cashew apple flesh, then let it settle and strain; a brief settle or a pinch of salt reduces the mouth-puckering tannins. Mix with water and lime. Traditionally drunk fresh near where it grows because the fruit spoils within a day or two of harvest.
Free, no account needed to ask.