What chicory is
A plant, Cichorium intybus. Certain varieties are grown for their roots. The root is chopped, roasted and ground, and it has been used alongside and instead of coffee for a very long time.
Chicory is a flowering plant with blue flowers, grown across Europe and elsewhere. The varieties used with coffee are grown for their thick taproot.
How it is prepared
The root is lifted, washed, chopped and dried, then roasted and ground. Roasted chicory is dark brown and looks broadly similar to ground coffee, which is part of why the two mix so unremarkably.
How it behaves
- It contains no caffeine.
- It dissolves readily and gives a dark colour and noticeable body.
- It is distinctly bitter, in a rounder way than coffee bitterness.
- It stands up well to milk and sugar, which is much of why it suits filter coffee.
Chicory entered coffee in many places as a way to stretch expensive coffee. It stayed in South Indian coffee because people came to prefer how it tastes.
We make no health claims about chicory. Plenty of places on the internet will; we would rather stick to what it does in a cup.
What this article does not claim
We would rather leave a gap than fill it with something we cannot stand behind. The following is deliberately left unsaid here:
- Any health or nutritional effect of chicory
Curious what this tastes like in the cup? See the coffees.