Coffee Substitute?

Hubby was just diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus, which means he has to give up coffee (and tomato products). Before we spend a fortune on coffee substitutes that end up in the compost because they aren't fit to drink, I thought I would ask here. Anybody try anything that actually tastes good?

Ohhhh... Sorry to hear this!

I take it you're not chicory fans?

AtlantaMarie wrote:Ohhhh...  Sorry to hear this!

I take it you're not chicory fans?

Never tried it. We weren't coffee drinkers when we lived in the South. What does it taste like? Can we grow our own and process it or is it too much trouble?

It's a bit bitter... Definitely different! :-) An herb, so, yes, easily growable.

You might look for the Cafe du Monde coffee to give it a try before buying seeds....

AtlantaMarie wrote:It's a bit bitter...  Definitely different!  :-)  An herb, so, yes, easily growable.

You might look for the Cafe du Monde coffee to give it a try before buying seeds....

 Marie. I just found out about acid-free coffees, so I think we'll try that, first.

countrynaturals wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:It's a bit bitter...  Definitely different!  :-)  An herb, so, yes, easily growable.

You might look for the Cafe du Monde coffee to give it a try before buying seeds....

 Marie. I just found out about acid-free coffees, so I think we'll try that, first.

What about cold brew?  Way easier on the stomach than hot coffe me better tasting.

Oh, good, Suz! Let me know how they are, please...

No_Such_Reality wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:It's a bit bitter...  Definitely different!  :-)  An herb, so, yes, easily growable.

You might look for the Cafe du Monde coffee to give it a try before buying seeds....

 Marie. I just found out about acid-free coffees, so I think we'll try that, first.

What about cold brew?  Way easier on the stomach than hot coffe me better tasting.

Huh? You mean like iced coffee or frappacino? Gotta go look this one up.

OMGOSH! This sounds awesome! Since he wants a hot beverage, we can use the concentrated cold coffee like chocolate syrup and make him a hot coffee-milk beverage, without boiling to trigger the acid-release.   NSR.

I still drink hot coffee on occasion, but mostly drink cold brew in a cold drink coffee just like regular hot coffee.  Originally I thought it would be gross like a cold cup of hot coffee, but it's not.

JIMHO, avoid the Starbuck dark roasts, they're still bitter.  I use a Guatemalan from Sprouts that ends up with hints of chocolate.  A little half and half and it's a rich creamy coffee  drink with solid coffee and mocha flavor and has a great mouth feel to drinking it.  Best of all, none of the artificial flavorings or sugars.

Super easy way to make it, put four to eight scoops (8-16 Tbls) of coffee in a quart mason jar, fill water, sit in fridge overnight.  Pour through coffee filter in the morning.  After you get the hang of it, you can switch to a coarser grind and longer soak.  Over soaking leads to bitterness.  I'm doing four, but I treat it more like straight coffee.  If you're going to cut it a lot with milk go with eight scoops.

No_Such_Reality wrote:I still drink hot coffee on occasion, but mostly drink cold brew in a cold drink coffee just like regular hot coffee.  Originally I thought it would be gross like a cold cup of hot coffee, but it's not.

JIMHO, avoid the Starbuck dark roasts, they're still bitter.  I use a Guatemalan from Sprouts that ends up with hints of chocolate.  A little half and half and it's a rich creamy coffee  drink with solid coffee and mocha flavor and has a great mouth feel to drinking it.  Best of all, none of the artificial flavorings or sugars.

Super easy way to make it, put four to eight scoops (8-16 Tbls) of coffee in a quart mason jar, fill water, sit in fridge overnight.  Pour through coffee filter in the morning.  After you get the hang of it, you can switch to a coarser grind and longer soak.  Over soaking leads to bitterness.  I'm doing four, but I treat it more like straight coffee.  If you're going to cut it a lot with milk go with eight scoops.

Perfect! Thanks, NSR. I was going to send the kids out to find us a French Press, today. Now I won't have to do that.

NSR, I'm with you on the Guatemalan. Or Costa Rican! Both tend to be sweeter & less bitter.

But I haven't tried the cold brew method. Hmmm... now you've got me wondering how it would can. Might have to experiment....

AtlantaMarie wrote: now you've got me wondering how it would can.  Might have to experiment....

Huh?

Could I make a bunch & then can it for future use? I guess it would be water-bathed.

The stores are full of bottles of cold brew so canning or bottling is possible, at least commercially.  Not sure if heating in canning process will affect flavor, bitterness or quality.

I've left my cold brew sitting in the fridge a week without notable degradation.  Perhaps an easier method is just brewing a weekly batch at a time.  Doesn't solve any portability issues.

AtlantaMarie wrote:Oh, good, Suz!  Let me know how they are, please...

Tyler's acid-free coffee tastes a lot like Postum. I love it -- Hubby not so much.

No_Such_Reality wrote:
What about cold brew?  Way easier on the stomach than hot coffe me better tasting.

Oooo, cold brew is awesome! 

Does hubby's stomach handle it better?

No_Such_Reality wrote:Does hubby's stomach handle it better?

Yes, and now this:

Alkaline Water

We are in love with this product. I did my homework, and the worst anyone can say about alkaline water is that the benefits haven't been proven. Granted, the results aren't dramatic, but we can already see a slight improvement in Bob's overall health by switching over to alkaline water for all of his water consumption, including regular and cold-brew coffee. It is definitely expensive   but well worth it if it works.

BTW, I brought in a cuke plant for the winter that has a little powdery mildew on the leaves. I'm gonna give it an alkaline water bath and see what happens.