Dandilion root coffee?

[munchh]

I have seen various references to this in old books about colonists who went to Canada, ive even found that you can buy it on Amazon!

Has anyone tried making it, or even bought it?

[lonewolf]

I used to drink Chickory when I was unemployed and skint, I see Tesco's now do a basic coffee 100g bottle for 50p!!

[munchh]

Yeah ive tried that but dont much like it, i suppose this is more a bushcraft or very long term prep, i will try and dig out some txt about it.

I have always wondered what would happen if i could not get coffee because it just ran out, what are the alternatives, its the same with tea.?

[lonewolf]

you drink water the same as the rest of us!

[munchh]

hahaha, yeah i get that, its just i see my preps as keeping the way i like to live going, it cant all be about only eating and drinking things in cans, we dont now so why when the shops empty would i only save stuff we dont normally eat?

Im sure you know what im getting at, its about prolonging life as it is now.

For me anyway.

[munchh]

http://rosesprodigalgarden.org/articles ... offee.html

thats very comprihensive.

[jansman]

I made it once, years ago. It was quite palatable, but you don't get the caffeine hit!

[munchh]

Cool, yeah i know, it has no caffeine, but it has other things going for it, this is my garden right now (i am no Percy Thrower) so you can see why its worth me looking into it!

[featherstick]

Dandelion roots are apparently high in carbohydrate and can be eaten, although I've never tried. I keep meaning to try, I have plenty on the allotment. Occasionally I'll throw very young leaves into a salad.

I too would struggle in a world without coffee. I remember Lucifer's Hammer, one of the characters reflecting that this would be the last cup of coffee he ever drank as he left the observatory after the impact. I didn't get the poignancy the first time I read it, I do now though!

[grenfell]

I've made it although not liking coffee I can't say personally if it's good or bad. It certainly smells like coffee and I used the other half as a guinea pig. She drank it saying it wasn't too bad although the addition of a little real coffee improves it no end. I did find that it is a lot easier to make if you have decent sized roots to begin with , small roots are just to fiddily . By the time a bucket full of roots are washed , roasted , pounded and filtered there isn't a huge amount of coffee left . It is quite a bit of effort but if you really want a coffee then probably worth it.
With regards to tea I've read about raspberry leaves being used as a basis for an "erzatz " version but have yet to try that one.