Chicory coffee with chocolate muffins. Click here for high-resolution version.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, before I moved to San Francisco, coffee in the South was pretty terrible. New Orleans, I suppose, was the exception. In those days, my house coffee for many years was Luzianne, which is part chicory (that is, roasted chicory root). Luzianne’s headquarters are in New Orleans. As for San Francisco, it was a wonderful coffee city before Starbucks came along and ruined the world. In the early 1990s, there were many neighborhood coffee shops, with superb Italian-style coffee served in white porcelain.
It was because I was thinking about microbiome health, and therefore inulin, that I ordered some chicory coffee from Amazon. Chicory coffee is shockingly good. I certainly still have my two cups of strong Italian roast coffee in the morning. But, especially in winter, chicory coffee is a fine thing for later in the day. I find it even more comforting than hot chocolate, and it’s easier to make. There is no caffeine.
Chicory root is a rich source of inulin. I’m not sure how much of it survives roasting, and how much of it is infused into the coffee. But some of it is. And, like coffee, chicory is a good source of antioxidant phytochemicals.
As for porcelain cups, the idea of drinking coffee out of a paper cup is horrifying. Also horrifying is the idea of stopping somewhere for coffee in the morning. Furthermore horrifying is what people pay for terrible coffee in paper cups, when homemade coffee is much better and and much cheaper.
I bet chicory coffee would make a fine espresso or cappucino. One of these days I’ll probably break down and buy an espresso machine.