DANDELION ROOT COFFEE

Hi everyone,

Oh, my friend gave me some roasted dandelion coffee this afternoon. Actually her husband gave it to me. He came and gave my dad and I a ride to the tax office and then the grocery store.  Before I continue, this is my FIRST attempt at making dandelion root coffee. So I'll be writing another post on this as soon as I perfect the perfect brewing recipe.

Okay, here's the photo of the lovely package of dandelion root coffee from my sweet friend L. She gave it to her hubby, who in turn gave it to me, when he came to help my father and I with some errands. This couple is really sweet.  The husband wasn't sure if it was meant for me or not, so he called his wife to make sure. Good thing, because I wouldn't want him to get in trouble for giving the coffee to the wrong person. Indeed, the dandelion root coffee was for me.  My friend L.'s sister brought it from Great Britain. It's actually a product of Germany. As far as I know, it's not commercially available in the States, but you can certainly make your own if you have dandelions growing in your yard:

Isn't that an interesting package and product? I think so.  I was really happy to get this, because I was literally going to buy a drip coffee at Whole Foods this afternoon, and add the culinary indiscretions of cream and sugar to sweet it up.  Receiving this lovely, healthy gift prevented me from buying coffee this afternoon. Here is what the back of the package looks like:

So the first thing to do, in order to make dandelion root coffee, is to open the bag (insert laughter here)  I had to smell this stuff. It has a really robust, nutty flavor.  Now the rest of this blog is how I made my particular coffee according to my friend L's recipe:

The first thing to do is place two TEAspoons of the whole dandelion root into a big stockpot. Yes, TEAspoons. Remember, this is just one version that I'm trying out.  It's recommended to grind it, but this time I just left the whole dandelion root bits in the pan.

Next, add 9 cups of water. Yes, I said 9 cups of water.  Bring it all to a boil.

Once it reaches full boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 15 minutes.  I kept the lid to the stockpot on top and slightly ajar to let some of the steam escape.  When I first placed the dandelion root in the stockpot with the water, it looked like wet wood chips. This is what it looks like after it's finished simmering on the stovetop:

The roast dandelion root coffee has a nice, dark color. Now if I had ground the roast dandelion root, I think the color would have been even darker.  I used a measuring cup and a strainer, to strain the "coffee" into my favorite mug.  I also added one packet of Stevia, to add just a bit of flavor:

And that's roasted dandelion root coffee. Well, remember what I said earlier about "not grinding the dandelion root"? Well, it made my coffee a bit on the weaker side. However, having said that, it still had a nice, nutty flavor. Next time I'm going to prepare it exactly like I would regular coffee.  When I do, I'll blog about it, and let you know how it turns out.

Oh, if you've actually made dandelion root coffee, PLEASE tell me how you made it and how it turned out. Thanks bunches.  This is a nice alternative if you're trying to QUIT coffee. Or, like me, your body decides to have annoying health issues and coffee is just no good for your insides. It's nice to have a healthy alternative. Dandelion is great for liver support and gallbladder function among other things.

In other news, I cleaned up the bathroom floor today. It looks nicer, but still not quite clean enough somehow. So I may go over it again tomorrow.  I also washed the floor mats. I'm feeling really domestic with the cleaning, and even more of a real-life farmgirl with the dandelion root coffee. In the meantime, I will continue to be a farmgirl of the heart :)

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather.