It is the unripe fruits of a climbing pepper plant that grows like a vine. The dried unripe berries are used, and they look the same as the dried berries of black pepper both come from the same family and are closely related. Compared with pepper, cubeb is a lot more fiery and aromatic.

Cubeb likes rich davie soil with high humidity and lots of shade. Cubeb is an unusual and very hot spice grown in Sumatra, Penang and New Guinea. The oil is also used in the production of perfumes and toiletries. If the berries are split open, some will have a small seed inside them, while others will be hollow.

It is also knows as Java pepper, tailed pepper and tailed cubebs. The fruits are picked unripe and dried for use in powders, tinctures and liquid extracts or distilled for their oleoresin and oil, which are used by manufacturers to flavor sauces, relishes, bitters and even tobacco.

 What are the origins and characteristics of Cubeb. Cubeb berries come with little tails attached and, once dried, have a wrinkled, leathery appearance. It is used a lot in Indonesian cooking.

It grows well in subtropical forests.