Chicory Coffee

/ Bluebird Gardens/
Cleaned and ground chicory roots add a chocolate flavor to traditional coffee. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Cleaned and ground chicory roots add a chocolate flavor to traditional coffee. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Chicory Coffee 

It was a staple during World War II when coffee beans were not available. I used to assume chicory coffee would be something campers would make when cooking out in the woods. Now chicory coffee is offered in some upscale coffee bars and as a specialty brew.

We can all make chicory coffee at home with a few precautions about where we collect the plants, which are herbs and wonderful pollinator plants.

Chicory Coffee Recipe

Courtesy of Lee Allen Peterson’s  Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants

Harvest chicory from a chemical free area. Wash; dry roots.

Roast in oven until dark brown and brittle. Grind as you would coffee beans. 

Use roughly 1 ½ tsps. ground chicory root for every cup of water.

I had my first taste of chicory coffee when I was in New Orleans where I was told beignets go hand in hand with a cup of chicory coffee.  Who was I to argue?

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Charlotte