Acorn Coffee

[Fallow Way]

Hi all,

I have just made my first batch of acorn coffee. Using some spare acorns from an old planting job i have ground them into a very fine powder and when taken like i prefer my regular coffee, quite weak, its quite a pleasant flavour, highly recommend an attempt.

 

[Gary]

one of the Bushcraft tribe group just made dandalion coffee and he says it tastes just like real coffee too!

Personally I never tried it but as he's making a batch for our next meet up I am sure I will soon.

Did you soak the acorns in changes of water - use as is for the tannin?

 

[Ed]

one of the Bushcraft tribe group just made dandalion coffee and he says it tastes just like real coffee too!

Yeah.... its very popular with the groups I teach in Cwmaman.....

We usualy dry the roots out in the sun (when there is some) before roasting .... it seems to give a nicer flavor.


Ed

 

[Fallow Way]

i just used as is...dandilion is this weeks mini project

 

[Ogri the trog]

Come on then Ed,
Whats the rest of the plan?
My garden is full of dandelions, just begging to be put to some use.

Dig/pull up
Dry in the sun
Roast (till what colour?)
Then do I just grind it up, or is there another step?

Cheers buddy

Ogri the trog

 

[Moonraker]

i just used as is...dandilion is this weeks mini project

You didn't roast them FW? To me that is what gives them the tasty flavour

 

[Fallow Way]

I have many left over so shall be roasting some for the second batch, but i found there is plenty of flavour from them just as is.

 

[bambodoggy]

one of the Bushcraft tribe group just made dandalion coffee and he says it tastes just like real coffee too!

It was me who was making the dandilion coffee...I'll copy and paste what I did for those that are interested. It's really nice and I doubt any of you would have questioned it if I'd handed you a mug full round a camp fire and said it was normal coffee....
Give it a go...it's dead simple...and as Gary says; I'm going to make up a whole load for next time a crowd of us meet us


"I had a bash at making coffee from dandilions last weekend.

Now, I have to say...most of the "Substitute" things I've ever tried taste bog all like the original even when taken with the most open mind and vivid imagination....however, this is the exception. I can honestly say if one of you had handed me a cup of it and said "Here's your coffee Bam", I'd not even have questioned it.

So, here's what I did:

1) Got wife to dig up three or four large dandilions complete with root attached.
2) snapped of the roots and disposed of the rest (yes I could have made a salad etc but it's the coffee i was interested in).
3) washed the roots between my fingers under luke warm running water (I guess cold is ok but as I have a hot tap in my kitchen I didn't see the point of getting cold hands..lol )
4) Made a little tray out of aluminium foil, put the cleaned roots in it and popped it in the bottom of the oven as the wife was cooking the sunday roast in there anyway.
5) Left them in the oven while dinner was cooked and eaten and then took them out and ground them up to near powder in my Morter and Pestal (this is a dodle...not like grinding coffee beans by hand!).
6) Put the same ammount as you use of ground coffee into your filer machine or cafetier and treat as normal coffee...i.e. add milk/sugar to taste.

It's so easy and as I say it really does taste and smell like real coffee....

Hope that's of use/interest to some of you "

 

[Goose]

I'll have to give that one a go, thanks Bam.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Bambodoggy,
Nice one, sorry about the confusion earlier on.

I'll give it a blast soon, using the Rayburn - and let you all know how I got on.

Ogri the trog

 

[match]

A useful tip - try to aim for plants that are nice and large, growing in open soil, as these tend to have fatter straighter roots. I tried making this a while ago, but found it to be a major hassle cleaning the roots as the soil sticks to them like glue (due to the sticky gum they have in them) - a good scrubbing brush is definitely necessary.

Not as strong a flavour as 'real' coffee, but still a nice one - tasted slightly nutty/mocha-like to me

 

[Ed]

a good scrubbing brush is definitely necessary.

Yep... they are very difficult to peel (and you don't get alot left after you've finnished) .... so a good idea to have a nail brush on you to give them a good scub before drying and roasting.

Come on then Ed,
Whats the rest of the plan?
My garden is full of dandelions, just begging to be put to some use.

Dig/pull up
Dry in the sun
Roast (till what colour?)
Then do I just grind it up, or is there another step?

Thats pretty much the way i do it.
1. Dig them up (don't pull em as the roots are very long and you are likely to pull the plant away from the root, leaving the root in the ground...)
2. Give them a scub/wash to get the dirt off.
3. Allow to dry
4. Roast to preferance (Fudge colour for lightly roasted to dark chocolate brown for that rich dark aroma)
5. Grind it up. (I tend to coarsely grind mine for ease of filtering)

Thats it.... you are now ready to make coffee


Ed

 

[bambodoggy]

Bambodoggy,
Nice one, sorry about the confusion earlier on.

I'll give it a blast soon, using the Rayburn - and let you all know how I got on.

Ogri the trog

No worries, hope you like it as much as I did.

I agree with Match that there's a slight mocca taste to them...mmmmm

I just rubbed them between my fingers under the warm running water and they cleaned up fine, I didn't use a brush at all...I certainly didn't peel them.
And I roasted them till they were dark brown and almost charred...then they more or less break up to corse power themselves without much effort with the morter and pestal.

 

[Ed]

I certainly didn't peel them.

I tried it once as I have heard from a few people that they peel them.... but to be honest its not worth the effort.... just give them a good clean.


Ed

 

[Ajali]

Haven't tried it, but certainly will do now. Have read that using an old (clean) toothbrush is best to clean them with.

Ajali
XOX