If you’ve ever sipped a café au lait in the French Quarter, you have tasted chicory’s signature notes. But hidden in that cup is a humble root whose story is bigger than a single sip.
To learn more about chicory, I sat down with Felton Jones, roast master and brand ambassador for PJ’s Coffee and New Orleans Roast. (You can hear our full conversation on my podcast, FUELED Wellness and Nutrition.)
One thing you may find surprising about chicory coffee is that chicory isn’t coffee at all. Chicory is a blue-flowered perennial plant with a taproot that, when roasted, adds the bold richness New Orleanians have come to expect from a café au lait. A blend of coffee and chicory with steamed milk, a typical New Orleans café au lait these days is made with about 20 percent chicory. But some blends are as much as 50 percent chicory, Felton explained.
Also of note is the fact that pure chicory has zero caffeine. Back in the day, it was said that drinking coffee and chicory would “put hair on your chest.” Old-fashioned expression aside, the dark roast and robust flavors of chicory only seem like they should also translate to more caffeine. In reality, chicory gives us a naturally decaffeinated coffee additive (or alternative) that still feels like ‘real’ coffee.
“Tastewise, there’s so much potency in straight chicory that you can use just half the grounds you’d normally use for coffee and still get a rich, almost espresso-like shot,” says Felton.
A brief history of chicory
Chicory shows up in ancient Roman and Egyptian writings from thousands of years ago, mostly for its use as a digestive tonic. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch, German and French cafés roasted it to stretch their limited supply of coffee beans during trade embargoes, including Napoleon’s Continental Blockade (1806-1814) aimed at crippling Britain’s economy by forbidding trade with continental Europe. Settlers crossing the Atlantic from Europe then carried the tradition to New Orleans, where Civil War naval blockades made a chicory blend the signature brew of the New Orleans café au lait we know today.
Taste-test surprise
Felton and I brewed 100 percent chicory in my stovetop moka pot, using half the volume of ground coffee I would normally use. We were both pleasantly surprised — it was unexpectedly smooth, slightly sweet, and almost silky. “I used to think straight chicory drinkers were out of their minds,” Felton laughed, “but now I see why some of our customers order it by the case.”
Price check: chicory vs. coffee
Cost can be another incentive to experiment with chicory. Prices vary widely by brand, but typically, pure chicory is about one-third the price of premium coffee, if not a bit lower. Plus, you use only half as much per brew.
“A one-pound bag of chicory will last you a long time,” Felton noted. “For someone watching both caffeine and cost, that’s hard to beat.”
Chicory home brew:
Felton’s brewing pointers
- Start solo. Brew straight chicory at least once so you know its baseline flavor.
- Use half the grounds. Start with a tablespoon of chicory per 6 ounces of water, and adjust to get your preferred concentration in subsequent brews.
- Choose a method. Chicory works in standard drip coffeemakers, also French press, pour-over, moka pots – even espresso baskets. (Note that the grind is typically a bit coarser than coffee.)
- Blend to taste. Start with a 4:1 coffee-to-chicory ratio for everyday sipping – or flip the ratio if you’re looking for a lower-caffeine cup.
- Add milk or keep it black. For a creamy café au lait, chicory’s subtle sweetness works well with dairy and nondairy options.
Fun fact
Ever noticed ‘chicory root extract’ (often referred to as inulin) listed as an ingredient in fiber-rich breads, wraps, nutrition bars and even ice cream? That extract is indeed from the same chicory plant. But the processing of chicory root fiber is completely different from that of chicory ‘coffee,’ including the use of much lower heat to preserve its soluble fiber and gut-friendly, prebiotic benefits.
When chicory root is roasted to higher temperatures to be used as coffee, nearly all of the inulin caramelizes. That’s great for flavor, but the brew won’t retain the same nutritional perks of fiber-rich chicory root extract.
One last sip
Chicory may date back to ancient Rome, but its renaissance is real. Felton shared that it’s PJ’s Coffee’s top seller on Amazon. It’s also a budget-friendly, all-natural decaf coffee alternative. And — if our taste test means anything — we think it’s surprisingly tasty on its own.
So, the next time you crave a bold cup of coffee after dinner, remember that the boldest brew in New Orleans doesn’t even come from a bean. Give this humble root a try — and let us know what you think.
Molly Kimball, RD, CSSD, is a registered dietitian with Ochsner Health and founder of Ochsner’s Eat Fit nonprofit initiative. For more wellness content, tune in to Molly’s podcast, FUELED Wellness + Nutrition, and follow @MollykimballRD and @EatFitOchsner on social media.