Coffee Substitutes

Do you 💗coffee?

I love coffee. I love the smell of coffee. I love the taste of coffee. I even love the boost that caffeine gives me.

But... I have trouble tolerating the caffeine.

I get the jitters when I drink too much and I lose my peripheral vision when I really over due it. The worst part for me, though is the headache that comes on the day I don't drink coffee. 

Sure, I can simply drink a cup to ward off the migraine. But that misses the point. 

I have no desire to be under the bondage of anything (or anyone for that matter) including coffee. I hate the idea that every morning, I must have a cup of coffee; that each and every day of my life I must, without exception, get out of bed and seek a cup of java; that my daily mojo wilts without "jo."

For years now, I've made it by with decaffeinated coffee.

But... decaffeinated coffee is frankly, underwhelming.

I still drink decaf but I've found a couple of other options that I choose more often.

Chickory is really a tea brewed from the root of a common herb. The root is roasted and ground and brews up into a dark, rich beverage. It doesn't taste like coffee, but it's a great replacement! Ground chickory is less expensive per pound than ground coffee and you use less of it. Chickory also doesn't make your system acidic like coffee and has a detoxifying effect on the liver, so it's a healthier option!

Most mornings, I make a cup of chickory in my keurig coffee maker. I use a refillable basket (if you don't have one of these, you need to get one!) and a large mug. I start with the smallest cup option on my machine: 8 oz.
This first infusion saturates the ground chickory. After letting that sit for a few minutes, I run another small or medium (8 or 10 oz.) option through the same grounds. This method extracts more of the flavor from the grounds.
You can combine ground chickory with coffee if you prefer and that's how the brand "Coffee Partner" is marketed. But I like the flavor so well that I most often just drink it by itself! You can find ground chickory through internet sellers or (sometimes) in the coffee section of your grocery store.

Another coffee substitute I've found is called "Dandy Blend."

Dandy Blend is an instant beverage: all you do is add hot water! It's a combination of chickory root and dandelion root. In addition to the benefits of chickory, dandelion root has it's own detoxifying properties and is good for the liver, kidneys and digestive system.
Dandy Blend is more expensive than plain, roasted chickory root, but it's instant so there is a convenience factor involved.
So pick a coffee substitute and enjoy!


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