Someone mentioned Postum in another thread, and that got me to thinking about another coffee substitute: chicory.
Has anyone ever tried chicory? Does it really taste very much like coffee? What are some brands of chicory-laced (or all-chicory) products so I can try it for myself?
–SSgtBaloo
It doesn’t so much taste like coffee, as make a brownish beverage with a slight bitter taste. Its best use is to add to coffee [previously to save money, but now it is just a flavoring] and can be tasted already mized in coffee in Cafe du Monde brand ground cajun coffee, some health food stores sell ground roasted chicory.
FWIw, some of my best memories of new Orleans were made sitting around Cafe du Monde at sunrise one july when the rest of the day was like working in an oven…drinking CdM coffee [half and half hot milk and chicory coffee] with beignets [square raised yeast donuts] and relaxing while it was still cool enough to breath.
<looks for some links>
http://www.internatural-alternative-health.com/ingr/ingr900323.cfm?source=shopping
Also, it is a VERY common roadside weed in the east half of the US, and is found in many open well drained fields…I suppose you could always go, pull up some plants, wash and slice the roots thinly, and use a food dehydrater to dry them, then roast them until an even dark brown[but not burned] in a low heat oven and then run through a coffee grinder=)