Tag: herbal coffee

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Herbs and Herbalism Recipes

Roasted Roots + Coffee Mix

When I first became interested in herbalism, my dad surprised me by gifting me all of my great grandmother’s herbalism and gardening books. By chance, or most likely not, I had wandered into a family legacy. My dad then regaled me with stories of some of her practices, like how she used to brew sassafras tea and root beer, made dandelion fritters, and added chicory and dandelion root to the coffee she brewed every day. 

It is actually a long-standing tradition to add roots like dandelion, chicory, and burdock to coffee to add nutritional benefits and cut some of the bitterness. Beyond those roots, you can get creative with sweet and aromatic spices if you’d like to add more complex flavors. It’s really a very hygge—simple and intentionally cozy—process to develop your own personal mix and roast the ingredients yourself. 

I love that I am carrying on my great grandma’s legacy. Many times when I make coffee, I also mix in roasted roots like she used to cut her coffee with. Herbs like dandelion, chicory, and burdock are nutritious and grounding, and help lessen the overall caffeine in your mug. They taste quite similar to coffee, though perhaps more complex and earthy, and you can put your own spin on your recipe with the addition of other flavorful botanicals. 

Here is a closer look at some of the ingredients you might add to your own roasted root blend:

Dandelion root

Strong liver, gallbladder, + kidney support 

Vitamin + mineral rich

Supports heart + balances blood pressure

Chicory root

Vitamin + mineral rich

Digestion support

Antioxidant rich

Supports liver + stomach

Burdock root

Kidney + liver support

Anti-inflammatory • Antioxidant • Detoxifying

Antibacterial + antifungal • Skin clearing

Blood sugar regulating

Cacao

Mildly stimulating

Synergizes other herbs

Heart + blood pressure support

Blood sugar regulating

Cinnamon

Digestive support • Circulation stimulating

Blood sugar regulating • Analgesic

Antimicrobial + antifungal

Antioxidants • Supports brain health

Warming + drying

Allspice, cardamom, cloves, fennel

Digestive support

Promotes circulation • Immune support

Soothing • warming • uplifting

Method

Roast equal parts of chosen roots on a baking sheet at 375° for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent burning. Allow to cool.

Mix in any spices or additional ingredients like cacao nibs and cinnamon chips, then grind in a coffee grinder and brew as you normally brew coffee. Opt for a coarser grind if brewing with a French press.

Adapted from my Roasted Roots article from the Autumn 2022 edition of Botanical Anthology.

For educational purposes only. Not intended for medical advice. Always consult your physician.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you choose to buy something from a link that I share, I will make a small percentage of the sale *at no extra cost to you*.

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Herbs and Herbalism Hygge wheel of the year

Yule: Candles, Tea, and Books

Happy Yuletide! I can’t say that I am the most knowledgeable regarding the background and traditions of winter solstice celebrations and rituals, but I am learning more as I go and loving what I learn. I wanted to pop in today to share a few of my favorite cozy Yule traditions with you.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, a combination, or simply mark the winter solstice, the astronomical beginning of winter and the shortest day and longest night are at the center of this occasion. It is a time of merriment as a way to bring light and cheer into the darkness, and to remind ourselves that the sun and its life-giving warmth will return. This is very much based in the agrarian lifestyle of our ancestors and the greater danger winter posed to their survival. Today we feel the hold-over of these traditions in more metaphorical ways but they’re still deeply ingrained. Other pagan and Christian elements and traditions of this holiday came in later, but all still revolve around the natural occurrence of the winter solstice.

Despite the jolly festivities, as I get older I feel the need more and more to snuggle in at home, slow down, eat cozy treats, and enjoy quiet times with my family just playing games and reading books. I think my connection to the natural world slowing down and going to its winter rest deepens the older I get! So I don’t feel the need for more gifts and parties, but rather candles, tea, and good books.

Candles

I absolutely love making my own candles this time of year. With a few simple, natural ingredients, candles that are healthier and more special than the store bought variety can easily be whipped up in your kitchen. Candles add a warming glow to Yuletide evenings and events, can be given as very special gifts, and you can add your own intention both when you’re stirring the wax to make them and when you take the time to light them each night.

Check out the recipe for these Yule Forest Candles I shared last year, these cozy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Candles from when I was just beginning to learn candlemaking, or purchase the Winter Candlemaking Guide from my Etsy shop to learn how to make candles at home.

Tea

Hot tea is a wonderful way to spend a winter evening during the Yuletide season! There is nothing better than brewing a big pot of tea tailored to the energies of the season, your health, or simply your mood. 

During this season of eating sweets and overindulging, a digestive-boosting tea like the Vanilla Digestion Tea I shared last year can be both helpful and tasty. An Immune Boosting Tea Blend can’t go amiss this time of year, either. Mushroom Coffee makes for a hearty and energizing, yet grounding, brew. Or check out the many other winter tea recipes in my Winter Tea Booklet in my Etsy shop.

Books

I am never at a loss for good books to read! Here I will keep the explanation short and simply share some links to books that are perfect for this season. 

Children’s books about Yule / the Winter Solstice / Wintertime (that are wonderful for adults, too):

The Shortest Day (Susan Cooper)

The Winter Solstice

Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter

The Tomten

Flower Fairies of the Winter

The Shortest Day (Wendy Pfeffer)

The Nutcracker Ballet

Adult fiction and nonfiction – my recent cozy or cozy-adjacent favorites

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries

Legends and Lattes

A Spell in the Wild

The Wake-Up Call

The Tale of Hilltop Farm (the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter)

The Hobbit

Kitchen Witch

A Morbid Taste for Bones (the Brother Cadfael mysteries)

Little Women

Slavic Kitchen Alchemy

Healing Herbal Teas

What cozy ways are you enjoying the Yuletide season?

For educational purposes only. Not intended for medical advice. Always consult your physician.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you choose to buy something from a link that I share, I will make a small percentage of the sale *at no extra cost to you*.

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Herbs and Herbalism plant wonder collective Recipes

Mushroom Coffee

I am so excited that September is mushroom month at the Plant Wonder Collective! I love all things mushroom for culinary, medicinal, craft, and folklore purposes. I can’t wait to share the mushroom love this month!

The medicinal and therapeutic qualities of mushrooms have become much more widely known and embraced in the mainstream, and that has led to lots of commercially available mushroom coffee blends and coffee alternatives. Which is great! But they can be quite costly. So today I am sharing a simple and cost-effective diy option if you’d like to try making your own mushroom coffee at home.

((I will note, if your aim is primarily to get the medicinal benefits, you might not get the most out of your woody mushrooms by brewing them in a simple infusion or decoction. (In the summer Botanical Anthology, Susan Ilka Tuttle shared a great article on how to make a reishi double decoction to extract all the beneficial constituents.) But there are definitely water-soluble constituents you can benefit from if coffee is the most accessible & preferable method for you.))

This coffee-alternative blend uses reishi mushrooms, coral tooth mushrooms, roasted dandelion root, roasted chicory root, and cinnamon chips. You could easily modify the recipe with your own favorite hearty spices like cloves and allspice. Or combine it with actual coffee! (This is my preference usually.)

The idea of mushroom coffee sounds quite odd and even off-putting to some, but it tastes nothing like the mushrooms on your pizza! It tastes bitter, earthy, and pungent, but in a way that is reminiscent of traditional coffee—especially when combined with coffee itself or roasted roots that are often used in place of coffee.

Before we get into the recipe, let’s take a quick look at the benefits of the two mushrooms we’re using—

Reishi

Reishi mushroom has long been associated with longevity. It can aid the liver, help with blood pressure and cholesterol, boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, help you relax, and much more. Reishi has been pretty well-studied and the results are so promising!

Coral Tooth

Coral tooth is very closely related to lion’s mane mushroom, and is used interchangeably with it. It may help boost the immune system, modulate inflammation, relieve allergies and eczema, reduce anxiety symptoms, and more.

Mushroom Herbal Coffee Blend

Ingredients per about two cups

  • 1 tsp dried mushrooms of choice (reishi and coral tooth in this case), broken into small pieces or crushed with mortar and pestle
  • 1 tsp roasted dandelion root
  • 1 tsp roasted chicory root
  • 1 tsp cinnamon stick chips
  • 1/2 tsp cloves

Method

Add ingredients plus about three cups water (adjust according to your coffee strength preferences) to a saucepan and simmer over low-medium heat for anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, strain, and serve how you take your coffee.

Or—

You can also grind the blend in a coffee grinder to a rough grind and brew in a French press or drip coffee maker. Not as many medicinal constituents will extract from the mushrooms, but you’ll still get some benefits and enjoy the earthy taste.

Alternatively, you can mix this blend to your preferred ratio with traditional ground coffee and brew as usual.

One more note:

Take care when foraging or purchasing medicinal mushrooms and make sure you are absolutely certain of the species before consuming! Also be sure to forage ethically or purchase mushrooms that were sourced ethically. My reishi and coral tooth were ethically foraged by my brother and his partner and gifted to me!

Have you ever tried mushroom coffee? Are you interested or curious to try it?

Categories
Herbs and Herbalism Tea

Herbal Coffee Alternatives

Someone recently brought up in conversation that she is trying to wean herself off coffee, and it made me think about coffee alternatives. I don’t think it is necessarily as simple as swapping out any tea or herbal tea for your morning joe. Especially since some want to cut caffeine completely, some just want to reduce their intake, and some have non-caffeine related issues with coffee instead like stomach problems.

I am personally still a coffee drinker, even though I am a home herbalist and spend so much time blending and drinking herbal and “true” tea blends! I definitely don’t overdo coffee and tend to only drink it in the mornings, and I love experimenting with herb/spice/botanical additions to my mug.

I am very much NOT caffeine sensitive, so my one or two cups a day don’t have much impact on me, and though I might feel a bit grumpy if I miss my morning java ritual, I honestly don’t feel any detrimental physical impact if I skip a day. I know I am very lucky in this, however! Coffee can affect people so differently, and some just need ways to cut back or cut it out completely.

There are many different herbal / botanical coffee alternatives that can suit different needs. I thought I would share a few of my favorites, which can help fill a specific void that coffee leaves behind:

Golden Milk (turmeric, sweet spices, black pepper, sugar / honey / etc., and milk) for a warming, very healthy, comforting, aromatic, immune-boosting & inflammation-modulating decaf sip (although to be honest—I personally still drink coffee myself, but often add about ¼ tsp of this to my mug and stir it in to enjoy the benefits & taste of both)

Roasted dandelion root for a cozy, earthy, hearty, grounding, detoxifying caffeine-free brew (my evening go-to; I often mix this with cacao nibs and cinnamon stick chips. You can also cut your ground coffee with dandelion root to reduce the caffeine and add health benefits!)

Lapsang souchong for some caffeine (but not as much as coffee) and a dark, bitter, smoky, complex, satisfying cuppa (an acquired taste, but I adore it)

Cacao nibs for a wee bit of caffeine, tons of antioxidants & beneficial minerals, mood-boosting endorphins, and rich & decadent taste

Chai or other spiced black tea for a bit of caffeine in a satisfying, aromatic, grounding, flavorful, cozy, warming brew (pictured here is a favorite of mine—hot apple spice)

Matcha for a complex, earthy, herbaceous, fresh, soothing cuppa with moderate caffeine that is offset by amazing health benefits (I’ll admit, I am not a huge matcha person when it’s by itself, but I do sometimes incorporate it into recipes and blends—but some people swear by it!)

Have you transitioned away from coffee with any of these, or perhaps a different alternative? Let us know in the comments — I have a feeling there are others who could benefit from some ideas to try!

Categories
Botanical Anthology Recipes

Roasted Roots: An Herbal Coffee Tradition

The Autumn Botanical Anthology digital magazine is available TODAY! To celebrate, I’m giving you a sneak peek at one of my articles from the publication below. But first, I must tell you a bit about this magazine I am so proud to be a part of!

Cover image by @marigold_stories

This labor of love is a seasonal, plant centered digital magazine bringing you over 45 articles from 30 contributors to incorporate autumnal herbs in your apothecary, kitchen, harvests, crafts, and fall celebrations.  

Until 9/28, grab your copy for $20 and receive the bonus cinnamon booklet. Download instantly and dive right into the 150+ pages of plant magic!

https://www.florasfeast.com/product-page/botanical-anthology-autumn-2022

Now without further ado, here is one of my articles!

Roasted Roots: An Herbal Coffee Tradition

Herbal coffee is a tradition that can be found, with a little digging, in many family histories. It was once common practice to replace or mix ground coffee with the roasted roots of plants like dandelion, chicory, and burdock. Not only did these easily-foraged plants make coffee go further, but they also cut some of the bitterness in the flavor. These roots also provided a nutritious and grounding alternative ingredient or replacement for coffee without the unwanted side effects of caffeine. Additional spices can be added to the mix for flavor and further health benefits, as well.

Here is a closer look at some of the ingredients you might add to your own roasted root blend.

Dandelion root

Strong liver, gallbladder, + kidney support 

Vitamin + mineral rich

Supports heart + balances blood pressure

Chicory root

Vitamin + mineral rich

Digestion support

Antioxidant rich

Supports liver + stomach

Burdock root

Kidney + liver support

Anti-inflammatory • Antioxidant • Detoxifying

Antibacterial + antifungal • Skin clearing

Blood sugar regulating

Cacao

Mildly stimulating

Synergizes other herbs

Heart + blood pressure support

Blood sugar regulating

Cinnamon

Digestive support • Circulation stimulating

Blood sugar regulating • Analgesic

Antimicrobial + antifungal

Antioxidants • Supports brain health

Warming + drying

Allspice, cardamom, cloves, fennel

Digestive support

Promotes circulation • Immune support

Soothing • warming • uplifting

When cooler autumn days make you long for more cups of cozy hot coffee, consider instead roasting and brewing up this alternative herbal blend. Get creative and formulate your own flavorful blend!  Or to get started, here is a simple and tasty recipe to try.

Materials

1 part dandelion root

1 part chicory root

1 part burdock root

½ part cinnamon chips

¼ part cacao nibs

¼ part allspice

Method

Preheat oven to 375°.

Spread dandelion, chicory, and burdock roots in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent burning. Roast for a shorter time if using a dark or nonstick pan.

Allow to cool.

Mix in cacao nibs, cinnamon chips, and allspice. 

Grind in a coffee grinder and brew as you normally brew coffee. Approximately 1 heaping tablespoon of the mixture makes 1 strong cup of herbal coffee.

Notes

Opt for a coarser grind if brewing with a French press.

If using pre-roasted chicory root, add it when mixing in cacao, cinnamon, and allspice. 

This blend may also be mixed with coffee, using your desired ratio (50/50 is recommended), to reduce bitterness and caffeine.