Why You Need To Be Drinking Chicory Coffee
Every morning in New Orleans should include a cup of chicory coffee. Hell, every morning everywhere should begin with the stuff. Its sweet, nutty scent alone will inspire you to leap out of bed — if not switch on a jazz record or curl up with a book and enjoy a serene early a.m. to yourself. It's a brew that welcomes you with a warmth unlike any other cup of coffee. It tastes like roasted hazelnuts and campfires, like summer nights and flannel blankets.
While some might scoff at the idea of an old-timey, penny-pinching brew becoming superior to the standard stuff, others are devout drinkers. And if you've never tried it, be warned: Once you take your first sip, you may never crave traditional coffee again. No, seriously. I wish I were kidding.
So what's so special about this stuff? After the chicory aka the roots of a beautiful blue flower are ground and roasted, it's folded into coffee grounds and brewed to add that hallmark woodsyness; that subtly tobacco-tinged smoky flavor and warm, nutty quality that gives your cup much more depth and delight.
It's a blend that pairs particularly well with a heavy-handed pour of milk or cream, café au lait-style. But it also offers a dynamic twist to the wildly smooth (and equally as trendy) cold brew. That's how I first discovered it at Avenue Café in the Garden District, where baristas splash their 20-hour brew with Tahitian vanilla syrup and whole milk. Sure, the ever-popular Café du Monde and its classic hot cup would have been a decent introduction, but this creation had me instantly hooked.
After two sips I felt like I had seen an entirely new world of coffee open up in front of me. Where had this been all my life? And why aren't more people talking about it? While the drink is considered quintessentially NOLA, you still have to dig around for it — but why?
Well, for starters, the drink's past has tarnished its delicious reputation.
During the Civil War, and again during the Great Depression, New Orleans coffee drinkers had to stretch their imported beans as much as possible. Ground chicory was the go-to choice for its rich, coffee-complementing flavors. And for decades, it stuck around in NOLA — for the sake of tradition. But the indulgent taste doesn't hurt, either.
Instead of that typical bitter — or worse, burnt — coffee flavor, chicory coffee gives you an effortlessly smooth, subtly smoky, velvety and nutty sip that would even impress non-coffee drinkers. It's bold, sure, but it's just enough to wake up all your senses and inject some joie de vivre into your morning grind.
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