I love coffee, LOVE coffee. Unfortunately, it’s not very nice to my body. Instead of being all depressed about it, last year I started to experiment with making my own coffee replacement. I’ve tried lots of faux coffees. Some of them are delicious, some are not. Many of them use chicory root which is quite tasty. Unfortunately, while I’m following a GAPs/paleo diet it’s not “legal.” It’s the FOMAP issue, my poor gut is too delicate for those fermentable carbs. Other coffee replacements are too “herby” or just too light in general. They are fine as proper teas and I’ll drink them but they don’t work as a coffee replacement. I want my faux coffee to be earthy, dark, slightly bitter, with good body. It also has to mix well with coconut milk because I always had my coffee with some sort of non-dairy milk.
It took months, and I actually put the idea on the back burner for quite awhile until one day my little gray cells had an epiphany! A friend makes a delicious tea as a coffee replacement. I drank it before I got my SIBO diagnosis. However, it too included roasted chicory. “But” I wondered, “is there a way to live without the chicory and create a similar darker flavor without tasting like dirt.” There was, the secret was cinnamon, and a teeny bit of vanilla.
Tea in the immersion blender cup, getting ready to be awesome.
Now, this is not coffee, it’s only a sort of replacement. But as someone who has missed the dark gritty, almost campfire-like, taste of a dark roast, I’m willing to compromise.
- 1 tbsp - Roasted Dandelion Root
- 1 tbsp - Cinnamon Chips
- 1 tbsp - Red Rooibos Tea
- ½ tbsp - Orange Peel
- ½ pinch - Vanilla Powder
- 5 cups - water
- Coconut milk - or milk substitute of choice
- Optional: ground cinnamon
- Mix dry ingredients in a separate container, set aside
- Add water to sauce pan bring to boil
- Add dry ingredients to water
- Cover and turn down temperature (at this point I usually put my electric stove on medium low)
- Let it simmer/steep for 20 minutes
- Strain into large jar
- Choose your favorite cup for drinking tea or coffee - I use a 12 ounce pint jar with a handle
- Pour desired amount of tea into cup or jar, leaving room for coconut milk
- IF blending with milk substitute, add desired amount coconut milk to cup
- Pour combined tea and coconut milk into a 30 ounce immersion blender cup - or other immersion blender safe tall walled container
- Blend for 10-20 seconds with immersion blender.
- Pour back into your cup, sprinkle with cinnamon if desired, and enjoy!
- Save the remaining tea for later by putting into a glass container and put in fridge. Should last about a week
This recipe is based on creating a drink with the tea and coconut milk that is about 12 ounces. As such there should be enough tea made for approximately four servings. How much you end up with depends on how much your tea steams(or how much steam escapes from under the lid) while it is simmering. Add more water if you don't think there is enough, or if you want your tea less strong.
