Roasting Chicory

[Edmondk]

Does anyone have any experience roasting chicory?

I am wondering if it can be roasted in a drum roaster or will it cause issues with roasting coffee?

Does it roast in a similar way and time frame as coffee or does it have completely different kind of profile?

This might be a long shot but if anyone has any experience please share.


Thanks,

Karl Edmond

[daphid]

Hi Karl,

Under no circumstances should you attempt to roast chicory in a coffee roaster, not unless you want to buy a new roaster.
The same warning applies to grinding chicory in a coffee grinder.

Roasters buy chicory already roasted and ground and then blend it into ground coffee. Check with the various coffee importers in New Orleans and South Carolina - they usually stock it.

Good luck with this!

David

[Edmondk]

Thanks for your help David!

Out of curiosity, What sort of problems would the chicory cause in the roaster?

[daphid]

Hi Karl,

Roasted chicory is oily and leaves a sticky residue. I think you'd run the risk of having to tear your roaster apart, pull the drum, scrub it and re-season it. Not to mention it's a root with much lower density then a coffee bean, so risk of a fire. If you want to dedicate a grinder to chicory that'd be okay but you'd end up taking it apart regularly to clean the burrs.

My buddy Bob's website has a nice page on chicory:
http://www.orleanscoffee.com/how_to/what-is-chicory.html


David

[rwesterfield]

Any idea what the shelf life of ground chicory is? Does it need any special handling or care or can we just keep it on our storage racks with our green coffee?