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"Coffee'' Without Caffeine
2 CUPS BARLEY I CUP WHEAT I CUP CORN 1/2 CUP CHICORY Mix the 4 cereals together and roast slowly until well browned, stirring often to keep from burning. Grind fresh and use just as you would coffee.
Believe it or not, regular coffee does keep some people awake, especially when camping out in the vicinity of loons that scream all night, or when sleeping on a fallen tombstone in a cemetery full of hoot owls.
A grain-and-chicory brew of the sort that filled coffee tins during rationing years. The whole thing hinges on the roast: too pale and the drink tastes like porridge water, too dark and it turns acrid.
- Use whole, raw grainsPearl barley, wheat berries and whole dried corn (feed corn or dent corn, not sweet corn kernels) are what is meant. Chicory here is the dried, chopped root, sold raw or already roasted at coffee suppliers and some spice shops; if yours is pre-roasted, add it only in the last few minutes.
- "Roast slowly" means an oven or a dry panIn a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, or spread on a sheet pan in a moderate oven; expect upwards of half an hour. Stir every few minutes. The grains should go the color of a dark walnut and smell nutty and toasted, not scorched.
- Corn takes longestThe four ingredients are unlikely to brown at the same rate -- the corn is the largest and densest, the chicory the smallest. Roasting them separately and combining afterward should give a more even result than the single mixed batch the recipe describes.
- Grind coarse, not fineRoasted grain is brittle and shatters into dust in a blade grinder, which will clog a filter and make the cup muddy. A coarse burr grind, or a percolator, suits it better.
- Brew stronger and longer than coffeeGrain lacks coffee's oils and soluble solids, so drip brewing at coffee strength tends to give a thin, grey cup. Use a generous two tablespoons per cup and either boil it briefly as a decoction or steep it a good five minutes.
- It is caffeine-free, but not coffeeBarley and chicory both brew dark and bitter, which is why they were common stand-ins, but neither carries coffee's characteristic aroma. Expect something closer to toasted-grain tea with a caramel edge.
- Yield and keepingFour and a half cups of raw grain makes a substantial quantity of roasted brewing material, well over a pound. Roast in small batches and store the whole grains airtight in the dark; ground, it goes flat quickly.