Dandelion Root Coffee vs Chicory Root Coffee: Taste, Prep and Foraging Compared

Every autumn, someone fills a baking tray with muddy roots, roasts them until the kitchen smells like a bonfire, and grinds the result hoping for a decent cup of coffee. Usually the roots are dandelion or chicory. Both are free, both are caffeine-free, and both have been drunk in Britain for a long time. They are not, however, the same drink at all. One is light, bitter and faintly medicinal; the other is dark, round and genuinely close to coffee. Which you prefer comes down to taste, effort and what is actually growing within walking distance.

Foraging: What Each Root Does in the Ground

The two plants behave very differently below soil level, and that shapes how much work you are in for.

Dandelion

Dandelions grow everywhere: lawns, verges, allotment paths, gravel. The leaves are smooth and jagged, and every stem leaks white sap when snapped. The roots are pale, brittle and branching, so they snap easily and you rarely get one out whole. From a plant in its second year or older, expect a root around pencil thickness, fatter in loose soil. A fork beats a trowel, and digging after rain makes a huge difference; in dry clay you will lose half of each root to breakage. Broken pieces regrow, so the plant survives, which is reassuring but irritating.

Chicory

Chicory is taller and wirier, with sky-blue flowers from midsummer into September, often on chalky verges and field edges. Its root is a proper taproot, sometimes as thick as a large carrot after two seasons. It is far more satisfying to harvest, but you need to dig deep and loosen the soil all around before lifting, or the root snaps halfway down. Wild plants can be sparse, so the reliable option is to grow it. Seed is inexpensive, and chicory works well in raised beds or deep pots with at least 40cm of soil. Sow in spring, thin to about 20cm apart, and start lifting roots from October.

Wherever you dig, a few rules keep it decent:

• Get permission from whoever owns the land. Uprooting wild plants without it is not allowed, and protected species exist.
• Avoid busy roadsides, sprayed verges and field margins that may have been treated.
• Skip the first metre beside a footpath where dogs are walked.
• Take one root in three and leave the rest. Dandelions feed early bees; chicory feeds late ones.
• Carry roots home with a little soil still on them. They dry out fast in a warm car.

Cleaning and Drying

Scrub, do not peel. Soak the roots for ten minutes in cold water, then work them over with a stiff brush under the tap. Slice out any woody crown at the top of a chicory root, and cut away soft or wormy sections. Chop into pieces roughly 1–2cm long: chicory wants slightly smaller pieces than dandelion, because it is denser.

Roasting wet roots steams them and gives a leathery, dull result, so dry them first. Spread the pieces on a tea towel or a tray and leave them overnight, or a few hours somewhere airy and warm. They should feel dry to the touch, not damp, before they go in the oven.

Roasting: The Step That Decides Everything

This is where the two roots part company. Dandelion is forgiving but bland if underdone; chicory swings from excellent to ashy very quickly.

1. Heat the oven to about 170°C fan (190°C conventional).
2. Spread the pieces in a single layer on a baking tray. Crowding them means uneven colour.
3. Roast for 45–90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes so the edges do not catch.
4. Pull dandelion when it is a medium, even brown and smells nutty and sweet. Stop earlier than you think.
5. Take chicory further, to dark chocolate brown, then stop. Blackened chicory tastes burnt and hollow.
6. Test by snapping a piece; it should break cleanly, not bend. Cool completely before grinding.
7. Grind in a spice grinder or blender, in short pulses. Coarse for a cafetière, finer for a moka pot.

Brewing and Taste

Neither root is a tea in the usual sense; both want simmering. Use roughly 2–3 tablespoons of ground root (about 15–20g) per 500ml of water, bring to a gentle simmer, and hold it there for 10–15 minutes before straining. A cafetière works but gives a thinner drink. A moka pot with a fine grind gets closest to espresso.

• Dandelion: lighter body, bittersweet, earthy and slightly woody, with a faint burnt-sugar note. The bitterness sits at the sides of the tongue and fades fairly quickly. Under-roasted, it tastes of wet cardboard.
• Chicory: darker, rounder, more body. Cocoa, toasted rye and caramel, with a bitter finish that lingers. This is the root used to stretch coffee in France and Louisiana, and a spoonful in the pot adds a smoky edge to real beans.

Both roots are high in inulin, a fibre that feeds gut bacteria. For some people, a large mug of either means bloating and wind, especially at first, so start with a small cup and see how you get on. If you have IBS or another digestive condition, are pregnant, or take regular medication, speak to a GP or a qualified herbalist before making either a daily habit. Nothing here is medical advice.

Blending and Storing

Roast and store the two separately, since they take different timings and darken at different rates. Keep the ground root in a sealed jar out of the light; flavour holds for two to three months, longer if you grind as you go. Blending is where things get interesting. Two parts dandelion to one part chicory gives a lighter, more herbal cup; flip the ratio for something that stands up to milk. A pinch of cinnamon, a cracked cardamom pod or a few fennel seeds in the pot covers a multitude of roasting sins.

Getting Started Without Wasting a Season

Dig a modest handful of roots rather than a bucketful, roast them in one tray, and write the date and the roasting time on the jar lid. Next batch, change one thing: ten minutes longer, or a slightly lighter roast. That note is worth more than any recipe, because your oven and your soil are not mine.

If wild chicory is scarce near you, grow a row. A deep bucket of chicory on a patio will give you a usable taproot by its first autumn, and you will know exactly what has been sprayed on it. And keep expectations realistic: neither root is coffee, and neither pretends to be. Drunk on its own terms, with a little milk and a cold morning, both are very good indeed.

Photo: MiVargof / Pixabay