Chicory coffee is made from the roasted, ground root of the chicory plant. It can be brewed alone as a caffeine-free coffee substitute or blended with real coffee, the way New Orleans has been drinking it since the Civil War. It tastes woody, toasty, and pleasantly bitter, brews darker and heavier than coffee, and carries inulin, a prebiotic fiber. A little goes a long way.
What Is Chicory Coffee?
Chicory is a hardy plant with sky-blue flowers that grows wild along roadsides across Europe and North America. Its leafy relatives include endive and radicchio, but for coffee it is the long taproot that matters. The root is cleaned, chopped, dried, roasted until dark, and ground.
On its own, roasted chicory brews into a dark, coffee-like drink with no caffeine at all. More often it is blended with coffee, typically somewhere between 70 percent coffee and 30 percent chicory and 80/20. That blend is the signature "coffee and chicory" of New Orleans.
Why Do People Put Chicory in Coffee?
Mostly because of shortages, and then because people liked it.
- France, early 1800s. Napoleon's Continental Blockade, launched in 1806, cut France off from much of its overseas coffee supply. Chicory, already used to stretch coffee in parts of Europe, became a staple, and the French taste for it traveled with French culture.
- New Orleans, 1860s. The city's French heritage meant chicory was already familiar. When the Union naval blockade choked Southern ports during the Civil War, coffee grew scarce and chicory filled the gap. The habit outlived the war. Café du Monde, founded in 1862, still serves its café au lait with a dark roast coffee and chicory blend.
- South India. Traditional South Indian filter coffee is commonly blended with chicory, often 20 to 30 percent, for a thick, dark decoction mixed with hot milk and sugar.
- Britain. Camp Coffee, a sweet coffee and chicory essence, was first made in Glasgow in 1876 and is still sold today.
Today chicory has a second life as a caffeine-free coffee alternative, popular with people cutting back or avoiding caffeine altogether.
What Does Chicory Coffee Taste Like?
Woody, earthy, and roasty, with a bitter edge and hints of caramel, dark chocolate, and sometimes licorice. It has very little of the bright acidity found in many coffees.
It is also noticeably heavier. Roasted chicory releases more dissolved material into the water than coffee does, partly from its sugars and fiber, so the brew comes out darker in color and almost syrupy in body. In a blend, chicory deepens the color, thickens the texture, and adds a bittersweet backbone that stands up to milk. That is exactly why New Orleans drinks it as café au lait.
Does Chicory Coffee Have Caffeine?
Pure chicory has none. A coffee and chicory blend contains caffeine in proportion to its coffee: an 80/20 blend brewed at a normal dose carries about 80 percent of the caffeine of straight coffee. That makes a blend a gentle way to cut back without switching to decaf. Our caffeine guide has the numbers for straight coffee to compare against.
| Coffee | Coffee and chicory blend | Pure chicory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caffeine per 240 ml | About 95 mg | About 65 to 75 mg | None |
| Flavor | Varies by origin and roast | Darker, woody, bittersweet | Woody, toasty, licorice |
| Body | Medium | Heavy | Heavy, almost syrupy |
| Acidity | Moderate to high | Lower | Very low |
| Dose per 250 ml | About 15 g | About 15 g | About 6 g |
How Do You Brew Chicory Coffee?
The key rule: chicory is potent. If you are brewing pure chicory, use roughly half the amount you would use for coffee, about 1 level tablespoon (5 to 7 g) per 250 ml cup, and adjust from there. For blends, start at 4 parts coffee to 1 part chicory by weight and work toward 2:1 for a full New Orleans style cup. The ratio calculator handles the scaling.
Chicory is usually ground fine and can slow a paper filter to a crawl. A French press or a drip machine with a mesh basket handles it best. Paper filters still work, in a drip machine or a pour-over, but drain slowly.
1. New Orleans café au lait.
- Coffee: A dark roast coffee and chicory blend, brewed strong at about 1:12
- Milk: An equal volume of whole milk, heated until steaming, about 65°C (150°F)
- Method: Fill the mug halfway with coffee and top with the hot milk. Sugar to taste.
2. New Orleans iced coffee.
- Blend: 100 g of coffee and chicory, coarsely ground
- Water: 500 g, cold or room temperature
- Steep: 12 to 16 hours, then strain
- Serve: Mix the concentrate 1:1 with milk over ice, sweetened with simple syrup or a spoonful of condensed milk
Our cold brew guide covers steeping and straining in more detail.
3. South Indian filter coffee style. Brew an 80/20 coffee and chicory blend as a strong, small decoction in a moka pot or slow-drip filter. Mix one part decoction with three parts hot milk and sugar, then pour it back and forth between two cups to froth it.
4. Caffeine-free chicory latte. Steep 8 g of pure roasted chicory in 300 ml of water just off the boil in a French press for 4 minutes. Press, add a teaspoon of maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon, and top with frothed oat milk. The best milk for coffee guide explains why barista oat milk froths better than the regular carton.
What Are the Benefits of Chicory Coffee?
Chicory root is one of the richest natural sources of inulin, and it supplies most of the inulin added to packaged foods. Inulin is a soluble fiber and a prebiotic: it passes through the small intestine undigested and feeds beneficial bacteria in the colon. The FDA formally recognized inulin and inulin-type fructans as dietary fiber in 2018, and the European Food Safety Authority has accepted a health claim that chicory inulin supports normal bowel function by increasing stool frequency, at an intake of 12 g a day.
Keep expectations realistic. Roasting breaks down some of the inulin, and a cup of brewed chicory delivers far less than 12 g. Claims online about liver detoxing or blood sugar control rest mostly on small or animal studies.
The more practical benefits are simpler. Pure chicory is caffeine free, a blend is lower in caffeine, and both are much lower in acidity than most coffee, which some people with sensitive stomachs find easier; our low acid coffee guide covers that topic in depth.
Does Chicory Coffee Have Side Effects?
For most people it is entirely benign, but a few groups should be careful:
- Sensitive digestion. Inulin is a fructan, one of the fermentable carbohydrates known as FODMAPs. In larger amounts it can cause gas and bloating, and people with irritable bowel syndrome often react to it.
- Plant allergies. Chicory belongs to the daisy family, alongside ragweed, chrysanthemums, and marigolds. If you are allergic to those, chicory may trigger a reaction.
- Gallstones and pregnancy. Chicory may stimulate bile flow, and evidence on large amounts during pregnancy is limited. In either case, check with your doctor before making it a daily habit.
How to Buy and Store Chicory
You will find chicory three ways: pre-blended New Orleans style coffee and chicory, usually in tins; pure roasted chicory granules or grounds for brewing alone; and instant chicory drinks. For brewing, pure roasted ground chicory gives you the most control, since you can set your own blend ratio with the coffee you already love.
Store it in an airtight container. Chicory absorbs moisture from the air readily and will clump into a hard cake in a humid kitchen.
The Bottom Line
Chicory coffee is roasted chicory root, brewed alone as a caffeine-free substitute or blended with coffee for a darker, heavier, more bittersweet cup. It owes its place in New Orleans and French coffee culture to wartime blockades, and it stayed because it is genuinely delicious with milk. Use about half as much as you would coffee, brew it in a French press or drip machine, and try it as café au lait or iced with condensed milk. Skip it if inulin upsets your stomach or you are allergic to ragweed. If you want lower caffeine without giving up the ritual of a dark, roasty mug, it is well worth a tin.