Chicory Mocha

Reach for this when you want the ritual of a dark, roasted cup without the caffeine. Roasted chicory root brews deep, bitter-sweet, and coffee-like, with a chocolatey mocha note that gives the blend its name. Brew it strong and drink it black, or pour it over steamed milk for a caffeine-free latte, morning or late at night. It also stirs into chocolate cake batter and dusts over truffles for a deeper, roasted edge.

Chicory root has a long history in European coffee, where roasted and ground it was brewed to stretch or stand in for coffee entirely, most famously in Belgium and France. It gives you the roasted bitterness and body coffee drinkers miss, with no coffee bean and no caffeine. The blend rewards a strong brew. Too little in the cup, or water that is not fully hot, leaves it thin, so give it a full measure and a good long steep.

Caffeine-free, roasted for a coffee-like cup.

How do I brew it?
Use one teaspoon per eight ounces of water. Bring fresh filtered water to a boil, pour it over the blend, and steep for five to ten minutes. Steep toward the longer end for a stronger, more coffee-like cup. Adding it to water that has not fully boiled, or using too little, is the usual reason a cup comes out weak.

Is it caffeine-free?
Yes. It is built on roasted chicory root, not coffee beans, so it delivers a dark, roasted cup with no caffeine. That makes it an easy choice late in the evening when coffee would keep you up.

Does it taste like coffee?
It gets close. Roasted chicory carries the same deep, bitter, roasted character coffee drinkers look for, with an added chocolatey mocha note. It is its own drink rather than an exact copy, so brew it strong if you want the fullest, most coffee-like body.

How do I make a latte with it?
Brew a strong, concentrated cup, then pour it over steamed or frothed milk the way you would a coffee latte. A little cocoa or a dusting of cinnamon leans into the mocha side, though a light hand on the cinnamon keeps it from taking over.