What Is Chicory Coffee and What Is It Made Of?

Chicory coffee is a caffeine-free brew made from the roasted, ground root of the chicory plant — not from coffee beans at all.

That dark, bitter cup served all over New Orleans isn’t coffee in the botanical sense. It comes from a root vegetable, and knowing that changes how you read every label, every caffeine claim, and every brewing instruction you’ll run into. The short version: chicory coffee is made from the taproot of the chicory plant, Cichorium intybus, which gets cleaned, chopped, roasted, and ground before it ever touches hot water. No beans, no caffeine, and a taste that lands somewhere between coffee, toasted nuts, and dark caramel. Here’s what’s actually in it, how it’s made, and who should think twice before drinking it.

What Is Chicory Coffee Actually Made From?

Chicory coffee is made from the roasted and ground root of the chicory plant, which is why it contains no coffee beans and no caffeine in its pure form. The plant is a blue-flowered relative of radicchio and endive, grown widely across Europe and the United States. Its long taproot — the thick, carrot-shaped main root — is the part that gets harvested, washed, chopped into small pieces, roasted until dark brown, and ground into a powder that brews just like coffee grounds.

Roasting is where the magic happens. Raw chicory root tastes earthy and barely sweet. Heat transforms its natural sugars and inulin into the deep brown, bitter, coffee-like compounds that give the drink its color and body. A few things follow from that root origin:

• Pure chicory coffee contains no caffeine, since caffeine comes from coffee plants, tea leaves, and a handful of other species — not chicory root.
• It’s naturally bitter, which is exactly why it became a coffee extender during shortages in 19th-century Europe and America.
• Its flavor is often described as nutty, toasty, and slightly woody, with a heavier body than most light-roast coffee.

Is Chicory Coffee the Same as a Chicory Blend?

No — and this is the single most confusing thing about the product. “Chicory coffee” can mean two very different drinks: 100% roasted chicory root, or a blend of chicory and real coffee. The label is the only reliable way to tell them apart.

New Orleans-style coffee, the most famous American version, traditionally mixes chicory with dark-roast coffee. That blend delivers caffeine, because real coffee is present — the amount depends entirely on the ratio. A cup that’s 70% coffee and 30% chicory will hit roughly like a slightly weaker coffee. A bag that reads “100% chicory” delivers zero caffeine. Check the ingredient list before you assume either way, especially if you’re cutting caffeine for a medical reason.

How Do You Make It?

You brew chicory coffee almost exactly like ground coffee: add the ground root to hot water, steep, and strain. Research published in peer-reviewed journals describes a preparation using roughly 2–4 grams of root per 150 mL of boiling water, steeped for about 10 minutes and then strained. That ratio produces a fairly strong cup — adjust to taste.

You can run it through a drip machine, a French press, or a moka pot the same way you’d brew coffee. A few practical notes:

• Chicory grounds are finer than most coffee grinds, so paper filters can clog — a French press or reusable metal filter handles it better.
• It won’t extract the same way coffee does. Expect a softer, more bitter cup rather than a bright, acidic one.
• Blending chicory with your regular coffee at home is simple: swap in 10–30% chicory by volume to stretch the bag and add body.

If you’d rather skip the guesswork, a tested roundup of the best chicory coffee brands to buy covers which blends and pure-root options actually hold up in a cup.

Who Should Be Careful With Chicory Coffee?

Chicory root is high in inulin, a soluble fiber that can cause gas, bloating, diarrhea, or stomach discomfort in some people, especially at higher intakes. That’s the main thing to watch.

Roasting reduces the fiber content of the brewed drink compared with the raw root, but it doesn’t eliminate it. According to research indexed by the National Institutes of Health, inulin-type fibers can trigger digestive symptoms in sensitive individuals, and reactions tend to scale with how much you consume. A single cup usually causes no trouble; several cups a day might.

Two other cautions matter:

• Allergies. Chicory belongs to the Asteraceae family, which includes ragweed, chrysanthemums, and marigolds. People with ragweed sensitivity may react to chicory and should introduce it slowly or avoid it.
• Pregnancy. Some sources advise against consuming large amounts of chicory during pregnancy due to unresolved safety questions. Talk to a doctor before making it a daily habit.

If you’re sensitive to fibrous foods or have a ragweed allergy, start with a small cup and see how you feel before committing to a full bag.