Chicory is a beautiful plant with bright blue small flowers. It grows everywhere: along roads, in flower beds, in forest glades. Due to the fact that chicory grows freely in nature, people often think that it is a weed. Meanwhile, this plant is known for its beneficial qualities. The chicory coffee drink does not have the side effects that coffee is known for, and connoisseurs will not trade its delicate taste for anything else.
The benefits of chicory
In the recent past, chicory was often used to counterfeit coffee, so some people still have a negative attitude towards it. Meanwhile, instant chicory is very beneficial. It can be drunk with high blood pressure, it is allowed even for pregnant women.
The beneficial properties of chicory make it possible to use it to fight many diseases; it contains a number of useful vitamins. The drink has anti-inflammatory, diuretic and sedative effects. Unlike coffee, chicory rather dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure, so this drink is perfect for hypertensive patients who cannot drink coffee.
Meanwhile, natural chicory also has contraindications. You should not drink a coffee drink with chicory if you suffer from varicose veins (chicory relaxes them even more), have problems with blood vessels, or are in a serious stage of obesity. Also, some types of gastritis will be a reason to refuse this pleasure.
All contraindications apply only to natural chicory, everyone can drink an instant drink without restrictions. That is why chicory is considered a symbol of a healthy lifestyle.
How to choose chicory
The chicory coffee drink is made from the roots of the plant. They are dried, ground, and then roasted like coffee. When shopping, it is important to decide which type of chicory you want to consume: instant or natural.
Natural chicory is sold as whole roots, and there it is ground to a state in which it can be brewed like coffee. When purchasing such chicory, be sure to check the date it was packaged. If the package is sealed, the taste of the drink will remain for a year or two, but the aroma fades over time. The fresher the natural chicory is, the naturally tastier it is. If you are buying chicory roots, make sure they are dry and brown.
Powdered instant chicory is much easier to prepare. This drink retains all the beneficial properties, but it has a softer effect. As a rule, it is soluble chicory that is found for the most part on the market. Its taste properties are often even better than natural, as it has undergone special processing.
When choosing instant chicory, pay attention to the grind. The smaller it is, the better the drink is. Good chicory is completely dry and is sold in sealed packaging. This is due to the fact that when moisture gets inside the package, the powder can harden.
The difference between ground chicory and roots is that the first is simply poured with boiling water, but the second must be boiled.
Once, a chicory drink was quite cheap, but today it is often more expensive than coffee. Sometimes this is due to various additives, for example, it can be ginseng, cinnamon, rose hips, and others.
When buying chicory, feel it in the package. "Petrified" powder or the presence of lumps in it indicates that it was stored incorrectly.
The final test of a chicory coffee drink is its taste.
