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Nettles
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Making Nettle Beer
Find out how to make your nettle beer
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Making Dandelion Coffee
Find out how to make your own dandelion coffee
Making Dandelion Coffee
foraging | recipes
Dandelion coffee is a beverage made from the root of the dandelion plant. After roasting, the dandelion root is ground into a power, mixed with boiling water, and drunk like normal coffee; served black or with added milk and or sugar to taste.
Dandelion coffee looks and tastes similar to normal coffee, it is high in minerals and vitamins, and it contains none of the harmful chemicals found in commercial coffee. It is also naturally caffeine-free.
Collecting Dandelion Roots
Collecting dandelion roots to make into coffee is best done in the early spring - before the plant has had a chance to use energy from the root to grow leaves and flowers, or in the late autumn - when the plant has had a chance to store a summerÃs worth of energy in its root.
It is of course much easier to harvest the roots after it has been raining rather than in the middle of a drought.
Look for plants with a large bunch of leaves, since such plants will tend to have the largest root. The green leaves can be collected at the same time, washed, and then frozen for later use.
Roasting Dandelion Roots
It is essential that the dandelion roots are very well washed before use. They need a good soaking in a bucket of water - fill, shake dirt off the roots, replace the water, and repeat until the water in the bucket stays clean. Then give the roots a final scrub.Dandelion roots can be roasted whole and then ground, but they require a few hours in the oven. It is better to chop the roots into small pieces (about 1-2cm long) and roast them like that so that they dry and cook evenly.
It can take 1-2 hours for the roots to dry and roast sufficiently at around 200 degrees Celcius. During that time it is best to leave the oven door slightly ajar so that water in the roots can be driven out, and to turn the roots over every 15 minutes or so.
The more time the roots spend in the oven, the stronger the flavour of the coffee will be. The finely ground roasted roots can then be cooled and stored in a jar for later use.
Make Dandelion Coffee
To turn the ground roots into coffee (it is actually a tea or infusion which resembles coffee), simply add a heaped teaspoon of the powder to a cup of boiling water and leave to steep - the longer it steeps the stronger the flavour. You can then strain the coffee, reheat it, and add milk, sugar, or honey to taste.
Article Published: 10:44, 19th Nov 2010
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