Coffee substitute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coffee substitutes are non-coffee products, usually without caffeine, that are used to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes can be used for medical, economic and religious reasons, or simply because coffee is not available. Roasted grain beverages are common substitutes for coffee.
In World War II, acorns were used to make coffee despite tasting foul. During the American Civil War coffee was also scarce in the Southern states[1]:
- "For the stimulating property to which both tea and coffee owe their chief value, there is unfortunately no substitute; the best we can do is to dilute the little stocks which still remain, and cheat the palate, if we cannot deceive the nerves." The Southern Banner, 1865
Coffee substitutes are sometimes used in preparing foods served to children or to people who avoid caffeine, or in the belief that they are healthier than coffee. For religious reasons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes known as Mormons, are not supposed to consume coffee but may enjoy a substitute.
Some culinary traditions, like that of Korea, include beverages made from roasted grain instead of coffee or tea (including boricha, oksusu cha, and hyeonmi cha). These do not substitute for coffee, but fill its niche as an (optionally sweetened) hot drink.
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[edit] Ingredients
Grain coffee and other substitutes can be made by roasting or decocting various organic substances.
Some ingredients used include: almond, acorn, asparagus, malted barley, beechnut, beetroot, carrot, chicory root, corn, cottonseed, dandelion root, fig, boiled-down molasses, okra seed, pea, persimmon seed, potato peel[2], rye, sassafras pits, sweet potato, wheat bran.
Ground roasted chicory root has been sold commercially on a large scale since around 1970, and it has become a mainstream product, both alone and mixed with real coffee. It was widely used during the American Civil War on both sides, and has long enjoyed popularity especially in New Orleans, where Luzianne has long been a popular brand in this respect.
Postum was an instant type of coffee substitute. It reached its height of popularity in the United States during World War II when coffee was sharply rationed. It remained popular for many years but is no longer made [3][4].
Cafix and Pero are two European brands of cereal coffee substitutes which are available in health-food stores in some parts of the country.
[edit] Preparation
- Some commercially available preparations are finely powdered and dissolve instantly in hot water
- Some coffee substitutes, like chicory, are ground and brewed like coffee
- Some coffee substitutes, like roasted barley grains, are left whole and boiled and steeped like tea
[edit] Safety
Acrylamide, a suspected cancer-causing chemical, is found at high levels in dark-colored baked, roasted and fried high-carbohydrate foods, as well as in roasted coffee and barbecued meat. The dark-roasted grains, nuts and roots that are used in some coffee substitutes would also, presumably, have high levels of acrylamide. The Heatox Project (Heat-generated Food Toxicants) is a European Union project that assessed the quantities of acrylamide in various foods. The Project recommended that people toast foods as little as possible.
