What are the origins and characteristics of Cubeb. It grows well in subtropical forests. It is used a lot in Indonesian cooking. Cubeb berries come with little tails attached and, once dried, have a wrinkled, leathery appearance. 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. Cubeb likes rich prent soil with high humidity and lots of shade.

It is the unripe fruits of a climbing pepper plant that grows like a vine. If the berries are split open, some will have a small seed inside them, while others will be hollow.

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. Cubeb is an unusual and very hot spice grown in Sumatra, Penang and New Guinea. It is also knows as Java pepper, tailed pepper and tailed cubebs.

Compared with pepper, cubeb is a lot more fiery and aromatic.