Acorn coffee

[Riven]

Having walked under several heavily loaded Oak trees I have finally made my first cup of acorn coffee. Read about it many times and thought why not. Collected acorns, peeled them, cut them into strips and roasted them in the oven (no fire available sadly). Crushed with a spoon and then poured hot water over like normal coffee.
Hey presto a pretty good tasting beverage. Even my wife liked it and she can't even stand the smell of my normal coffee, said it tasted a bit like caramel.
So all in all well worth the effort. Now just got to find a way of making a chocolate hobnob.
Riven.

 

[Toddy]

Good on you

Chocolate's harder though. Hobnobs we can manage from what grows here, but the chocolate's a bit of beggar to find.

If you've found an not too bitter oak tree, then mind where it is, and it might be worth while trying to make some flour from the acorns. Mostly they really, really need leached first, but occasionally we come across a tree that's not so bitter and it's worth spreading it's acorns around, iimmc

M

 

[santaman2000]

..... occasionally we come across a tree that's not so bitter and it's worth spreading it's acorns around, iimmc

M

Do you reckon it's genetic? Or an affect of the soil and conditions where the tree's growing?

 

[Fraxinus]

Sounds good and I was just looking at a tree full of acorns this morning and thinking back to a conversation I had with an old Cretan some time back about the use of acorns there during the Nazi occupation.
He described a bitter coffee that they sweetened with honey from the hills and boot black, a rudimentary polish (not sure how it was made as my Greek at the time was not so great).
Was your version overly bitter? Or do you take sugar with coffee as standard?

Rob.

 

[Toddy]

Do you reckon it's genetic? Or an affect of the soil and conditions where the tree's growing?

I reckon it's genetic. In the same area I can find three oaks within 100m of each other. Same soil, same watershed, same sunshine, etc., and they all taste different.
One's so bitter that it makes even me spit it out, one's ho-hum, and one is almost edible just as it is
The ho-hum one makes fairly decent coffee, the bitter one after leaching makes really good coffee. The sweet one's very bland when roasted, but it made good flour. I really should have made a lot more from it.

No guarantee that the acorns haven't cross polinated though , so maybe taking cuttings would be a better bet.

How did the first gardeners do it ?

M

 

[Riven]

Fraxinus I added a little milk and a sweetener and I must say it did have a slight bitter aftertaste but still not bad. I do enjoy a strong coffee normally.
Riven.

 

[Fraxinus]

Fraxinus I added a little milk and a sweetener and I must say it did have a slight bitter aftertaste but still not bad. I do enjoy a strong coffee normally.
Riven.

Thanks for the feedback, I like my coffee black and no sugar, sketo, as they say in greece, so maybe I should give it a go.

I reckon it's genetic. In the same area I can find three oaks within 100m of each other. Same soil, same watershed, same sunshine, etc., and they all taste different.
One's so bitter that it makes even me spit it out, one's ho-hum, and one is almost edible just as it is
The ho-hum one makes fairly decent coffee, the bitter one after leaching makes really good coffee. The sweet one's very bland when roasted, but it made good flour. I really should have made a lot more from it.

No guarantee that the acorns haven't cross pollinated though , so maybe taking cuttings would be a better bet.

How did the first gardeners do it ?

M

Near the trees on my shooting permission there are several small Oaklings that I have persuaded the landowner to mow around to let them grow with an eye on replanting them at some point in the future, so your points above are of great interest. Will have to trial some acorns from different, though very close, trees and see how they match up or how much factor they have

Rob.

 

[Faz]

Can the bitterness be taken out by soaking a couple of times before roasting for coffee? I'm guessing they are full of tannin.

 

[Man of Tanith]

May i ask.
Where they green or brown the acorns?
Reason being there's loads of wind blown green ones on the ground where i walk the dog and itd be easy to harvest plenty while scout does his insane cocker spaniel act.

Re leechin yeah its advised to leech either in a slow running stream or several changes of boiling water.
Save the liquid its a good herbal treatment

 

[Riven]

They are green acorns I took from the branches and were very easy to peel. Made another cup yesterday and used fewer nuts and it tasted more like tea than coffee to me.
Could have been more milk as well. Well worth the small effort required though.
Riven.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Sweet
Thanks for that
Time to dig out the foraging pouch

 

[Toddy]

Sam ? see if you pick up some of the windfalls and split them open…if the nut inside looks clean and healthy, it'll do fine

M

 

[Man of Tanith]

Ill do me best
Tis dependent upon if Scout is happy to wait whilst i do or if he's after a sprint.....

 

[Drain Bamaged]

An old farmer once told me that often the amount of tanning in the Acorns (and other parts of the tree) was often dependent on the age of the woodland and the number of surrounding Oak trees…..The tree produces the tannings for its own protection against various pests and predators, Squirrels, various insects, Jays, Rodents etc. the more ‘Food’ trees around ie. Other Oaks, Nuts, Fruit etc. the more animals there would be around to ‘threaten’ them so the more unpleasant they could make themselves taste the less damage they suffered (to an extent their seeds would also be the most successful so any hereditary trend towards taste would also survive). I have no idea how true this was/is but I have certainly noticed over the years that Lone Oaks do seem to be better as regards the edibility of the Acorns

D.B.

 

[Leshy]

An old farmer once told me that often the amount of tanning in the Acorns (and other parts of the tree) was often dependent on the age of the woodland and the number of surrounding Oak trees…..The tree produces the tannings for its own protection against various pests and predators, Squirrels, various insects, Jays, Rodents etc. the more ‘Food’ trees around ie. Other Oaks, Nuts, Fruit etc. the more animals there would be around to ‘threaten’ them so the more unpleasant they could make themselves taste the less damage they suffered (to an extent their seeds would also be the most successful so any hereditary trend towards taste would also survive). I have no idea how true this was/is but I have certainly noticed over the years that Lone Oaks do seem to be better as regards the edibility of the Acorns

D.B.

Now that is very good tip.
Cheers DB.
I know a couple of lone oaks nearby, I'll harvest from them and keep those separate to compare the results with the other acorns...
Cheers

 

[Trotsky]

My other half and I made our first cups of Acorn coffee on Monday evening after foraging Sunday in the woods near her parent's house. No branches were within reach so all were windfall, some green but mostly brown. I peeled, she chopped and then I roast, ground and gave them a light second roasting in a pan. I have to say it was a very interesting drink, not bitter or at least not to someone used to strong dark roast coffee. The aftertaste reminded me a little of unsweetened dark chocolate with a slightly astringent edge to it. We both enjoyed it though and will certainly be making more when we can collect more Acorns.

 

[Toddy]

Bit of a blast from the past this set of photos, but….first stage roasted acorns for coffee

Acorns,
I just peel them and roast them for coffee. If making flour then yes they need to be leached first.

I usually just store them at this first roast stage, it sorts of preserves the acorns, then do a really good roast before I use them, grind or pound them small, and use as ordinary coffee.

 

[Freelander]

Thanks Toddy

How long does acorn flour last for? Stored in an airtight jar. I would like to make some for a scout weekend but that would next year so I wonder if it would last about 7 months. Any advice appreciated.

 

[Toddy]

Dry it well, keep it cold, safe from mould and insects (big well sealing jar in the pantry works I find) and it'll be fine.
You can freeze it too I'm told.

M

 

[Freelander]

Thanks Mary.