Coffee or NOT COFFEE? That’s a Good Question…

It seems grammatically a strange question until you understand that NOT COFFEE is a brand name.

So, if you are craving for a good cup of joe in the morning but for health reasons, you are not to have caffeine, lets’ look at a good alternative.

And it is not coffee…

For some reason, some unknown reason, some strange beans have entered our essential food intake requirements.

Check out its history.

People like the taste of coffee and the kickstart it provides.
Not surprisingly, having to go without, makes you crave for a suitable alternative.

I have been looking around for something with the taste of real coffee but without the caffeine.

There’s actually a hot market brewing under our very noses trying to imitate that addictive beverage.

How do I know?

Facebook tells me…

When I did a bit of research on coffee alternatives, Facebook bombarded me with ads from various brands.
Easily half a dozen companies want to be my morning kickstarter!

One of these, Not Coffee, had the best spiel.
But how would this alternative work out with the all-important taste test?

So, I had a chat with Sila Gatti, the founder of Not Coffee. Her story of having to get off the caffeine for health reasons, resonated with me.

She loved her coffee and the morning rituals around a cuppa.
She looked around for alternatives, including decaf and various teas, but nothing came close to the genuine coffee taste.

So, with typical Aussie ingenuity and grit, she and her husband, roasted, ground, blended, brewed, and formulated all sorts of healthy ingredients until, finally, the result was Not Coffee.
(BTW, I can’t imagine doing those long hours of experimenting without coffee!)

Sila was happy to send me some samples to try.

Yes, there’s more than just the Original product.
There are some flavoured options like Hazelnut, Vanilla and Caramel.
And I just noticed they also have a Chai and a Chai/Turmeric version now as well.

All of these products come in 2 versions: Ground and Instant (which are labelled “NOW”).

 

If Not Coffee Beans – What’s in it?

Well, it is a mix of chicory root, roasted chickpea and Australian carob.
Chicory root is commonly used as a coffee alternative, because it has a similar colour and taste.
Carob is often substituted for cacao.
Roasted chickpea has been used as a caffeine-free alternative to coffee for centuries.

On their website, Not Coffee are spruiking the health benefits of these ingredients and undoubtedly these are better for your heart, gut and bone health than our caffeine infusions.

There is one proviso though: people on the FODMAP diet might know that, despite its many health benefits, chicory root is high in FODMAPs at most serving sizes.
Similarly, carob should be limited while on the low-FODMAP diet.

 

The Taste Tests

Ultimately, this is where a coffee alternative fails or succeeds: it has to taste like the product it replaces.

So, how did we go?

I started off with the Original.
After having reviewed some very high-end automatic coffee machines over the years, my daily driver is a simple French Press (plunger) and, to make things even more simple, I never use milk or sugar.

The pre-brew aroma is not quite the same as real coffee, but the taste test reveals a very close approximation of my heretofore regular brew.

The interesting thing is too that the more you drink Not Coffee, the closer to real coffee it seems!

Later on, I decided to have one last real cuppa to “recalibrate my taste buds” so to speak and to find out if indeed there is still that difference.
Result: a slight edge for the caffeine still as far as taste, but frankly, I don’t miss it. And I’m pretty sure that, over time, No Coffee will be the preferred brew.

I also sampled the instant NOW version.

It looks more like the normal ground coffee I use: very fine granules.
The taste is similar to the Original, minus the 5-minute steeping time.

Lastly, I went through the flavoured varieties.
I am not normally a fan of these, but some folks do like a hint of vanilla, hazelnut or caramel in their brew.

Me thinks, the caramel flavour suits me best.
But I’m also happy to rotate through the other flavours for a minor variation on a common theme…

 

Recommendation

It’s hard to make a recommendation based on something as personal as taste.

The best I can do is to point you to the Not Coffee website, see the rich variety in flavours and brewing options (including pods) and order one of the many sample pack bundles.

All products have small sample packs because this is a product that you need to try first.

Prices start at $12.95 for a sample pack but economy of scale kicks in with the 300g packs.

I can’t vouch for any health benefits as yet, but given the known benefits of the ingredients in Not Coffee, I am reasonably optimistic to make it to 78 next June in a better constitution!

Cheers!