{
    "id": 1070265,
    "title": "Chicory: the caffeine-free coffee substitute",
    "slug": "chicory-drink",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/chicory-drink/",
    "modified": "2026-09-18T00:45:34+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Roasted chicory root tastes dark, bitter and caramel-like, with no caffeine. How it compares with coffee and tea, and how to brew it without it turning muddy.",
    "content_text": "Chicory is a root \u2014 the same plant family as the bitter leaves \u2014 dried, roasted and ground. Brewed, it makes a dark, bitter-sweet drink with caramel and burnt-sugar notes, and no caffeine at all. It has been drunk in Britain and France for centuries, in and alongside coffee, and it is the most convincing coffee substitute there is, precisely because it is bitter and dark rather than fruity or floral.\r\nIt is worth knowing about if you are cutting caffeine but miss the shape of a coffee: strong, dark, taken with milk.\r\nThe three products on the shelf\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nProduct\r\nWhat it is\r\nCaffeine\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nInstant chicory\r\nChicory extract, dried into granules; stir into hot water\r\nNone\r\n\r\n\r\nRoasted ground chicory\r\nFor brewing like coffee, in a pot or filter\r\nNone\r\n\r\n\r\nChicory and coffee blend\r\nBoth, in a stated ratio\r\nYes, from the coffee\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThat third one catches people out: a \"chicory coffee\" may be mostly chicory but still contain real coffee \u2014 one common French product lists 60% soluble chicory with 40% soluble coffee. If you need it caffeine-free, read the percentages.\r\nChicory versus tea\r\nThey solve different problems.\r\n\r\nChicory replaces the roasted bitterness and the milky, after-dinner heft of coffee.\r\nTea replaces the ritual and the lift, and has its own caffeine unless you choose a herbal.\r\nFor a caffeine-free drink that takes milk like tea, rooibos is the closer match; for a toasty caffeine-free drink, so is barley tea.\r\n\r\nIf you are moving off coffee, our tea for coffee drinkers guide covers the teas that hold up with milk.\r\nHow to brew it\r\nInstant: 1 to 2 teaspoons per mug of hot (not boiling) water. Stir thoroughly \u2014 chicory granules clump. Add milk if you like; it takes it well.\r\nGround chicory: treat it like coffee. About 10g per 200ml in a cafeti\u00e8re, 4 minutes, pressed slowly. It is finer than most coffee grinds, so it can be muddy: use a paper filter if you want a cleaner cup.\r\nStrength: chicory is more bitter than coffee at the same strength. Start weaker than you think.\r\nCommon questions\r\nDoes chicory taste like coffee?\r\nClose, but sweeter and earthier, with less acidity and no roasted-bean aroma.\r\nIs it caffeine-free?\r\nPure chicory is. Blends with coffee are not.\r\nIs it good for you?\r\nIt is a drink, not a supplement. Chicory root is high in inulin, a fermentable fibre, which can cause wind or discomfort for some people in quantity. This page makes no health claim.\r\nCan I use it in a coffee machine?\r\nInstant, no. Ground chicory can clog espresso machines; a cafeti\u00e8re or filter is safer unless the product says otherwise.",
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