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waterdragon

coffee substitutes

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anyone know of coffee substitutes and their methods of preparation , don't have to be native , don't have to contain caffeine. thought it was about time this section got a post. thanx in advance.

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Without doing much thinking here...Catha edulis and Yerba mate ( Ilex paragu-something or-other )spring readily to mind. The first doesn't contain any caffeine but does contain stimulant alkaloids if prepared from fresh leaves ( its just made like normal tea ). Yerba mate conntains caffeine

Dandelion & chicory root are often used as coffee substitutes. There's prolly a million others.

One thing to take note of, when distributing or consuming coffee substitutes, is that caffeine containing substances should be described as such. Some ppl can't handle caffeine at all, and end up consuming it inadvertantly to ill effect because they aren't informed of the myriad pharmacological subtleties that lie between the terms 'coffee substitute' and 'caffeine substitute'. Sometimes all the terms mean is that you're drinking something thats NOT coffee and could well contain caffeine anyhow

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Lets not forget tea! Not only does it contain caffeine (well, mostly theophylline, but close enough), but it also contains many very healthy antioxidants... and its also a very attractive shrub with lovely flowers.

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Guest mulga

You asked in the bushfoods section so here's a few native ones anyway

Wattle seed, roasted

Kurrajong seed (or Illawarra Flame Tree or pretty well any other member of the Brachychiton genus), roasted

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The sacred lotus - Nelumbo nucifera.

Apparently the German explorer Ludwig Leichardt found the seeds 'when roasted and pounded made a most excellent substitute for coffee'.

The seeds and were also eaten by the aborigines ( raw and cooked ), and were ground into flour to make bush bread.

The seeds are also long-lived, and there has been an instance of the seed germinating after 237 years. ( is there nothing this plant can't do )

I found this in

"Plants of Central Queensland - their identification and uses"

by Eric Anderson

published by Dept of Primary Industries Qld

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