Personally, I’m not much in favour of ersatz anything, but sometimes the short word is as good a signifier as anything. Vegetarian burgers, for example, tells you, very roughly, what you’re getting (not much). So too with various substitutes for coffee, many of which are promoted precisely because they are caffeine free. Coffee, in this case, I suppose means vaguely bitter, brown, hot beverage, possibly refreshing. Even before coming to Italy I had been aware of Caffé d’orzo, “coffee” made from ground, roasted barley (though not the extent of the marketing surrounding it). A fellow blogger, however, introduced me to a new Italian “coffee” that had been in danger of extinction and is now more widely available.
MikeH shares his discovery of Altrei coffee, made from Lupinus pilosus, grown by the villagers of Altrei near the Italian Alps. And as he says:
A nitrogen fixer with an amazing blue flower that gives us a coffee substitute. It doesn’t get much better than that. Even if the coffee doesn’t cut it, we still have a spectacular nitrogen fixer that the bees in the orchard will love.
In the interests of science I need to see whether I can find that coffee here in the city. And the SeedZoo that MikeH mentions might repay study for those of you looking for a little horticultural diversity for your plot (though I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t bemoan the lack of proper botanical names).
Dear Sir
The Ceratonia siliqua Evergreen tree with paripinnate leaves; Occasionally cultivated in the desert region of Iraq alt: 35 m fl&fr April
(Uphof 1959) states that the seeds have been used as a substitute for coffee( Carob Coffee) ,especially in part of Austria. The Carob is also a source of alcohol.
In the interests of science I need to see whether I can find that coffee here in the city.
Or perhaps a biking holiday – http://www.langeshof.com/en/nature.html
Probably not.
More on altrei kaffee – http://goo.gl/leQmg