Coffee Substitute? I found oot!

[SuperK]

I know, most of you are thinking, "Hell, the best substitute for coffee is coffee!"

ha ha ha... SHUT UP!

Seriously, I can't handle both the caffeine or the massive acids in coffee, it does terrible things to me.

Grandma brought up with her on her visit a delicious coffee substitute, though, from Puerto Rico.

It's Roasted Garbanzo's. It's so good, brew it like coffee, add some cream and sugar and it tastes better than coffee, without the baddies.

And I type this with my little cup of... Garbanzoffee.

[Mnemonic]

green tea is my substitute...

Started drinking it when I started working out, been doing it ever since

Will have to try the garbanzo experience

[Inodoro Pereyra]

SuperK: I don't know if you're aware of this, but garbanzos are chickpeas. Maybe you can roast your own...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickpea

http://www.make-stuff.com/cooking/coffee.html

[solo_ryder]

Any crazy mormons wanna post there solutions? Lol

I can't stand the taste of coffee, but that's a cool alternative superk, I'm gonna tell my mom about that. She's always lookin for coffee alternatives

[onlytrueromeo]

Iced coffee is my love. Regular coffee is meh.


Iced Green Tea is my call girl.


Half and Half (Iced Tea/Lemonade 50/50) is my wife.


I don't drink many warm drinks, except the occasional hot cocoa in the winter. (w/ baileys of course) I will certainly have to try this drink that you speak of.

[Mnemonic]

Iced coffee is my love. Regular coffee is meh.


Iced Green Tea is my call girl.


Half and Half (Iced Tea/Lemonade 50/50) is my wife.


I don't drink many warm drinks, except the occasional hot cocoa in the winter. (w/ baileys of course) I will certainly have to try this drink that you speak of.

How do you feel about Chai Tea?

[onlytrueromeo]

Never tried it, believe it or not.

[93vtecklr]

Coffee did bad things to my guts too, so I always start my day with a nice tall glass of vodka.

[SuperK]

I am aware of the other coffee substitutes, such as Postum and Roma, which are barley/wheat subs, but I don't like those much.

I understand Garbanzo's are chick peas, but they have to be roasted a certain way in order for them to keep their flavor best, and that requires a special roaster.

You actually can get the roasted garbanzo's (already ground up) here:
http://creativefoodsinc.com/_mgxroot/page_10744.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I bought a 3 lb bag... it's a BIG bag!
Along with a french press, I have this one:

http://www.epinions.com/review/Cost_Plu ... 6105840260" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

put a scoop of ground, add the water, let it set for a couple minutes, do ONLY ONE PLUNGE to push the residue to the bottom, add some cream (if you like cream) and wow, it's just so good!

I HIGHLY recommend trying it.

In fact, if you'd like, I can send you a sample of roasted garbanzo to see if you like it.
You can also refrigerate both the grounds and the actual brewed coffee itself without loosing flavor. Grandma makes a large batch, refrigerates it, then warms portions up for grandpa throughout the day.

I am sure you can prepare it like iced coffee... never tried it, but I am going to!

[SuperK]

SOME spanish stores will also carry it, if you know of any in your area.

The one in my area used to, but they stopped for some reason, hence why I had to order a bag of Bueno.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Well. according to my personal policy of never say I don't like something without trying it (at least when it comes to foods), I finally decided to try the "garbanzofee".
But since for me tasting it would be only half the fun, yesterday I bought a bag of chick peas at the super, and today, after putting some on a tray...



I put them in the oven, and after exactly 3 hours at 300* F...



So then, after letting them cool down a bit, I took my professional coffee grinder (my blender), and a few spins later, I got this:



The first thing that hit me is how bad it smells. I mean BAD.
However, having come this far, I wasn't gonna let that little detail discourage me, so I put some of it with some water in my French press (my microwave oven ), and after 2 minutes on high...



Then (after filtering), some sugar, and...

I have to say, regardless of its less than inviting aroma (not as bad as the powder, but still bad), it tastes surprisingly good. Not being a coffee drinker myself, I'll probably never drink it again, but I can see how a coffee lover would like it.

Anyways, I thought I'd share the experience...

[fowljesse]

Personally, I drink coffe for the caffeine, so I can't imagine subbing it with something non-caffeinated. However, I also dislike the acid, so I started cold brewing it, and it's much better (no acid)! I like the taste better, too. You just leave coffee grounds in water overnight, and strain it when you want to drink it. I use lightly roasted beans, because they have more caffeine.
Right now, my favorite pick-me-up drink is Zip-Fizz. I get it at Costco. It's mostly B-vitamines, and healthy stuff with tea extract for the caffeine, and Stevia for sugar substitute. It is the best I've had, and I've tried everything. It doesn't have a crash, or come-down. It is a must-have for Burning Man, so I don't miss as much during down-time.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I don't drink coffee at all. I love the smell, but not the taste.
I get my caffeine fix from tea and coca cola (about 2 cups of tea, and 2 1/2 to 3 liters of coke a day), and my sugar substitute is...well...sugar. HUGE amounts of it.

I didn't try this because I was trying to sub coffee. I just wanted to know how it tastes. I'm a curious kinda guy...

[wytbishop]

My life would be hollow and empty without the glorious love affair I share with coffee.

Green tea???...GARBONZOFFEE!!!! wtf is wrong with you!?!?!?!

[onlytrueromeo]

Jesse - cold brewing is great. You can make it super strong, then I just add it to alot of milk so you get coffee milk. Delicious.