Grinding and Roasting Chicory

Chicory, with their ragged sailor blue flowers, makes an excellent beverage that you can add to your regular coffee or drank alone as a delicious coffee substitute. Ground Chicory is caffeine free so it brings the total caffeine down when added to your regular coffee. Chicory added to coffee makes it darker but it impairs a mild, less bitter taste of pleasant caramel to the brew.

After picking or should I call it pulling the chicory taproot out, I soak them in a bowl of water to get most of the loose dirt off. Don't peel the roots like carrots because you lose alot of the good stuff instead scrub them with a potatoes brush to get the rest of the dirt off of them. Keep scrubbing until you see the whiteness of the taproot.

Next, peel the roots into smaller pieces and put them on a cooking sheet. Roast the roots at 350° for about 2 hrs or until it's dark and looks roasted.

Finally, use a coffee grinder to grind the roasted root into fine coffee ground. These grounds can be added to your regular coffee or brewed into a caffeine free beverage.