What is chicory found in instant coffee?!
Who can tell me?
Answers: Is it a plant? If so, what does it look like, and where is it cultivated, or is it also a bean like plant.
Who can tell me?
It's a flower, and it's blue. Here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory
It's a blue flower, and it actually grows around this area as a weed along side the road. It has been used for years as an herbal substitute for coffee by roasting the root.
The chicory in instant coffee is a root of the chicory plant. It has a coffee-like taste when dried and roasted, so my guess is they add it to the instant coffee to add flavor. If you buy one of those "100%-not-coffee-substiutes-for-coffee" , like caffix or teechino, they have chicory in them, also.
The plant can be found growing wild in the U.S., maybe other places, too. It has a base of toothy leaves, kind of like a dandilion, and a tough, fibouous stem with light blue flowers on it. For a weed, it's kind of pretty, I think. Try to google images of "chicory". You'll get some good pics.
Chicory is the root of a plant.It is dried roasted and powdered.This powder has the flavour of coffee.It's marketed mixed with coffee in the ratio of 2:3 or less.