 Chicory is a flowering plant in the dandelion family that is characterized by a tough, hairy stem and light purple or blue flowers. And this is not to be confused with the curly endive or radiccios, which are also sometimes called chicory. While having similarities to regular coffee, chicory coffee is often described as having a woody or nutty taste. The history of chicory coffee. Now many people believe that chicory root coffee comes from France in the 1800s, but according to my research it actually goes back a little bit further than this and a little bit northeast as it was actually first brewed around 1750 in Holland. Apparently it became popular pretty quick as by 1785 James Bowden, the governor of Massachusetts introduced it to the United States. And in 1806 Napoleon was trying to make France more self-sufficient thereby initiating what was called the Continental Blockade, which eliminated coffee imports almost entirely. What French Coffee Lavors Unite Revolution! And this forced the French people to turn to chicory root coffee as a substitute for their Java Jive. And when the blockade was lifted a few years later, the French found that they acquired a taste for chicory coffee as they thought the taste was an improvement and it had extra health benefits thrown in as well. In fact, in 1835 France exported 1.25 million pounds of chicory and only 25 years later that figure had ballooned up to 16 million pounds. Belgium and Denmark were also reportedly big proponents of the chicory coffee craze as well and so was the United States. But this time it was because of the Civil War, the North's blockade had cut off most of the supply of coffee heading into the southern states. As a result, the South turned to chicory root to make their coffee as well as other substitutes like corn. Not much of a surprise that the corn coffee didn't catch on though. Perhaps it was a little too corny for their taste. Thank you. After the war chicory coffee lost some of its popularity but it kept thriving in other unexpected ways. In the late 19th century companies started lowering their costs by sneakily cutting their coffee grounds with chicory coffee. They got to the point that the New York Times reported that pure coffee couldn't be found anymore. And while chicory root may have lost its popularity elsewhere, this was not the case in New Orleans. Where chicory coffee is still commonly served to this day where you'll usually find it served as a café au lait and it's supposedly even better with a plate of beignets. Hard to argue with that. These days chicory coffee is often found in a blend like the French café du Monde which is 60% coffee and 40% chicory. Chicory coffee benefits. By the way have you liked this video and subscribed to my channel? Yep. It's a mighty good time to do that and hit that bell notification so you don't miss any future videos. Now one of the nice benefits and reasons people turn to chicory coffee is that it's caffeine free. So if you're looking to cut down on your caffeine, this is a really good way to go. Many of the key benefits of chicory root come from Inland, a prebiotic fiber that is great for constipation and a variety of digestive benefits. However, much of the Inland found in chicory coffee gets caramelized and converted into fructose sugar during the roasting process, which is great for the dark coffee color, a touch of sweetness and it reduces the bitterness of the raw root. But it also means that you're not quite getting the same nutritional benefits in chicory coffee as you do from regular chicory root. As for the rest of the benefits, there is research talking about how it helps with diabetes, arthritis, skin health, your liver and kidneys, candida and more. And if you want to learn about all the benefits of chicory root in chicory root coffee, then check out my other video all about it, which is linked in the little dot right up there. Or click on the thumbnail at the end of this video. How was it made? Very similar to regular coffee, chicory root also gets minced, roasted and then finally brewed. Fresh chicory root can be roasted at 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes in a traditional oven. Although the amounts can vary, it's generally recommended to use about two tablespoons of ground chicory root to one cup of water. And like I mentioned in my dandelion coffee video, the amount really depends on how strong you want it to be. Now if you're steeping your chicory root coffee, well you'll want to give it about 7 to 10 minutes of steep. Or again, if you want it stronger, you can go longer. Like the rhyme? Now oddly, compared to fresh dandelion root, fresh chicory root is actually a lot harder to buy and find. Especially over here in the UK, though you can easily find pre-ground chicory coffee, which is what I have here today. What does it taste like? And now the most important part, that taste test. I'm going to do a straight coffee and then half milk and half coffee for a cafe au lait. Here we are with the live taste test. I did this with my French press and I did it for 10 minutes like it says at two tablespoons, okay? Let's see what we got. The first time I ever tasted myself. Okay, here we go. All right, okay, hmm, interesting. I actually find this one rather subdued. Compared to the dandelion coffee especially, this one actually has not so strong of a flavor. It definitely is woodsy and nutty like they said on the tin and it does have very much a coffee taste. You're definitely not going to think oh, this isn't a coffee-esque at all. But luckily it isn't bitter, which is nice. I'm very happy about that fact that it's not bitter. I am able to sit here and drink it. At the same time, I probably would want a little bit of sugar and milk in here. I'm going to do the cafe au lait next. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely fine. If you're looking for a substitute for coffee, this could definitely do it for you. If you haven't tried the dandelion coffee, you should do that too because they both have slightly different aspects. It's kind of like just having different types of coffee. So if you don't like the dandelion coffee, you might very well find chicory root coffee your way to go. So give it a shot. Let's give the cafe au lait a shot now. All right. Okay, I can see why people go for this. Yep, definitely, it definitely helps smooth out the blend. It takes away any of the bitterness that existed with the other one. And there was quite, you know, the more you drink it, the more you tend to just have that bitterness sitting in your throat. And with this one, it really does smooth the whole thing out. I mean, I would definitely probably add a touch of sugar in here as well. It's just my normal taste buds. I'm a sweetie kind of guy, so. But yeah, really good stuff. I'm very impressed with the chicory coffee so far. Give it a shot, man, good stuff. Have you tried chicory coffee before? Are you going to now? Let me know in the comments section down below. Now, if you want to see more videos just like this one, go and watch my video on dandelion coffee next, or you can watch the one we already talked about about the benefits of chicory root. Please be kind, take care of each other. And if you haven't already, get on out there and enjoy yourself a nice cup of chicory root coffee.