Coffee Drink
Chicory Coffee: Caffeine, Taste & How to Make It
Chicory coffee can mean pure roasted chicory or a blend of chicory and coffee. Pure chicory has an earthy, bittersweet taste and is naturally caffeine-free; a coffee-containing blend brings coffee flavor and its own caffeine profile.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- Naturally caffeine-freeNamed product is 100% soluble chicoryThis answer does not apply to blends containing coffee or other caffeine sources.
- Calories
- 16 kcalEstimated serving: 5 g (0.18 oz) named soluble powder with waterNo added milk or sweetener; brewed root infusions have a different basis.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- One pure-chicory cup: 5 g (0.18 oz) Leroux Nature soluble powder with 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) water input
- Made with
- Pure soluble roasted chicory + water
- Sugar
- 1.1 g total. Estimated naturally occurring sugar in the chicory; no sugar is added.
- Preparation
- About 3 minutes
Leroux Nature 200 g product label and manufacturer dilution guidance, checked 28 September 2026. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- Choose pure chicory for a roasted-root flavor of its own; choose a coffee-chicory blend when you want coffee in the cup too.
- Milk softens chicory’s earthy bitterness, while water leaves that flavor more exposed.
- Instant chicory suits a quick cup; roasted root suits a steep-and-strain routine.
On This Page12 Sections
Pure Chicory vs. Coffee-Chicory Blends
Chicory comes from a root, not a coffee bean. Roasting and processing that root produces ingredients used either on their own or alongside coffee. The two drinks can look similar while answering the caffeine question very differently.
For example, Leroux Nature lists 100% instant chicory. The same manufacturer's Chicory CAFÉ is 80% soluble chicory and 20% coffee.
Swipe to see all columnsScroll to see all columns
| What the package contains | How to prepare it | Caffeine answer |
|---|---|---|
| Pure soluble chicory | Dissolve a measured dose in water or milk | Naturally caffeine-free |
| Roasted chicory root pieces | Steep and strain, following the product directions | Naturally caffeine-free if it is only chicory |
| Ground coffee and chicory | Brew as directed for the blend and equipment | Contains caffeine unless the coffee has been decaffeinated; decaf may retain some |
| Soluble chicory and coffee | Dissolve rather than filter | Depends on the coffee component and portion |
Do not put soluble chicory into an espresso basket as though it were ground coffee. Likewise, stirring dry root pieces into a cup is not the same as dissolving an instant product. The product form determines whether extraction and filtering are needed.
The coffee alternatives guide compares chicory with roasted-grain drinks and brewed cacao by ingredients and preparation.
What Does Chicory Coffee Taste Like?
Pure chicory tastes earthy and deeply toasted, with a bittersweet finish and a faint caramel-like sweetness. It has some of the dark roast character that draws people to coffee, but its rooty flavor is distinctive. The soluble version in this recipe gives a light, even sip once fully dissolved.
A little milk makes the drink creamier and rounds the roasted edge. If it tastes too forceful, add a small splash of water before deciding it needs sweetness.
I prefer pure chicory with a little milk and no added sweetener because it softens the roasted bitterness while leaving the earthy flavor clear.
How to Make Pure Instant Chicory Coffee
Use 5 g (0.18 oz) pure soluble chicory with 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) hot water. This doubles the manufacturer's guidance of 2.5 g per 125 ml (4.2 US fl oz) liquid. The recipe uses no milk or added sugar.
Recipe
Pure Instant Chicory Drink
- Makes:
- 1 serving
- Time:
- About 3 minutes
Ingredients
- 5 g (0.18 oz) Leroux Nature pure soluble chicory
- 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) hot water
Equipment
- Scale
- Kettle
- Graduated heatproof water measure
- Spoon
- Heatproof mug of at least 300 ml (10.1 US fl oz)
Method
- Measure the chicory. Weigh 5 g (0.18 oz) soluble chicory into the mug.
- Dissolve. Add 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) hot water and stir until dissolved.
- Serve. Let the drink cool to a comfortable sipping temperature, then taste.
Estimated nutrition: 16 kcal; 1.1 g total sugar. Per cup, with 5 g Leroux Nature soluble chicory and water.
Recipe notes
Use pure soluble chicory, not ground root or a coffee-containing blend.
250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) is water input. Milk and sweeteners are optional additions, excluded from the estimates.
Equipment and Preparation
Weigh the powder for a consistent dose. Add 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) water to the measured powder.
The manufacturer's dilution guidance allows water or milk and hot or cold preparation. The water-only version makes it easier to separate the chicory's label values from whatever you add later.
What If You Have Roasted Chicory Root?
Use an infusion method, not the instant recipe above. Leroux's directions for its roasted root pieces give 1–2 teaspoons in 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) hot water for 5 minutes, using an infuser or filtering afterward. Use that supplier's volume measure for its roasted pieces. Leroux preparation guidance.
The soluble-powder calorie estimate cannot be copied onto that infusion: you dissolve and consume the instant solids, whereas spent root pieces are removed. Follow the label for finer ground products and coffee-containing blends, whose flow through a brewer can differ.
New Orleans Coffee and Chicory
New Orleans-style coffee and chicory contains coffee; it is not the pure-root drink above. Café du Monde, established in 1862, describes its signature drink as dark-roasted coffee and chicory, served black or au lait. Its au lait serving combines the prepared brew with hot milk. Café du Monde history.
The café's demonstration instructions use a drip-brewed coffee-and-chicory blend and describe equal parts prepared brew and hot milk for au lait. The practical distinction is brew the blend first, then add milk. A spoonful of pure instant chicory in milk is a different preparation, even if it fills the same kind of mug.
Use our café au lait guide for the milk-and-brew relationship. For a chilled coffee-containing approach, the New Orleans-style cold-brew guide covers the separate steeping method.
From Roasted Root to Instant Chicory
Chicory’s place in the cup predates the instant jar. Leroux traces its business to 1858, when Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Leroux bought a factory already producing roasted chicory alongside other foods. After a fire in 1871, the business concentrated on chicory alone.
The company dates its soluble chicory to 1951. That change explains the practical difference on today’s shelf: roasted pieces need brewing and straining, while instant chicory dissolves directly in the cup. New Orleans developed its own lasting coffee-and-chicory tradition, described above.
Adjusting Chicory Coffee
- Too concentrated or bitter: reduce the powder on the next cup, or add water gradually to the current one. Record the dose you prefer.
- Too weak: keep the liquid amount steady and increase the weighed powder modestly.
- Gritty instead of dissolved: check whether you bought ground root rather than soluble powder. More stirring will not turn root pieces into instant chicory.
- Prefer a milk drink: replace some water with a measured milk or plant drink. Its sugar, calories and allergens become part of the serving.
For an iced version of the soluble drink, dissolve 5 g (0.18 oz) pure soluble chicory in 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz) hot water, cool it and serve over ice. Ice melt changes concentration. Keep the dry jar tightly closed and follow the package's storage advice; a wet spoon introduces unwanted moisture into the powder.
Chicory Coffee Caffeine, Calories and Sugar
The pure soluble cup above is naturally caffeine-free, with an estimated 16 kcal and 1.1 g total sugar. The sugar is naturally present in the named powder. There is no added sugar or dairy ingredient in this water-only preparation.
A coffee percentage alone cannot establish caffeine per cup without knowing the coffee's caffeine content, dose and, for a brewed blend, extraction. Adding chicory to an unchanged quantity of coffee does not remove that coffee's caffeine.
Serving calculation and source assumptions
Leroux's Nature 200 g jar lists 313 kcal, 21 g sugar and 32 g fiber per 100 g soluble powder. For 5 g, the calculations are 15.65 kcal, 1.05 g sugar and 1.6 g fiber. Display values round the first two to 16 kcal and 1.1 g. Water contributes none of these nutrients.
The caffeine-free statement comes from the manufacturer's identification of this product as pure chicory. Use the relevant label values when changing the powder, dose or additions.
Is Chicory Coffee Good for You?
Choose pure chicory if you want a caffeine-free roasted-root drink. The defined pure-chicory cup avoids caffeine and added sugar, and its label supports a modest fiber contribution. Those facts do not demonstrate that the drink treats digestive problems, causes weight loss or improves a medical condition.
Judge the actual serving: a plain cup and a sweetened milk-based chicory drink have different nutrition. If your goal is a familiar coffee flavor with less caffeine, decaf coffee is another option; it remains coffee and may retain small amounts of caffeine. Pure chicory offers a different ingredient and flavor, rather than being decaffeinated coffee.