Coffee Alternatives: These Coffee Substitutes have Less Caffeine

Coffee Alternatives

Coffee is great, but since it has lots of caffeine, drinking it in the evening can interfere with your ability to get a good night's sleep.  Even drinking too much coffee during the day can result in headaches due to the caffeine content of coffee.

What coffee alternatives are available that have less caffeine or are caffeine free?

Half Caff Coffee

Half Caff coffee is a mix of regular coffee and decaffeinated coffee that has half the caffeine of regular coffee.  You can make this by mixing equal parts of ground regular coffee and ground decaf coffee.  You can also buy bags of pre-mixed half caff coffee.  Since half caff coffee still has caffeine, you'll still need to limit your consumption somewhat to avoid getting too much caffeine.

Half Caff coffee has one half the caffeine of regular coffee
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Decaf Coffee

Coffee can be decaffeinated through chemical processes.  The processing removes caffeine from coffee beans by creating an environment with low levels of caffeine surrounding the beans.  The caffeine from the coffee will naturally move to the surrounding area with less caffeine.  This process is repeated until the coffee contains almost zero caffeine.  Since decaf contains almost no caffeine, you can drink lots of it and drink it at night without interfering with your sleep.

Decaffeinated coffee
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is an alternate to coffee that has much less caffeine.  You can buy packets of hot chocolate power that you mix with hot water to make hot chocolate.  Some hot chocolate brands even have marshmallow packets that you can add if you wish.  For a treat you can make hot chocolate from chocolate bars and milk instead of powdered mix.

Chickory Brewed Beverages

A coffee substitute can be made by brewing roasted chickory root.  Chickory is a perennial plant that has edible leaves and roots that can be roasted and ground to make a coffee substitute.  Chickory has been used as a coffee substitute in situations where coffee was not available, such as in prisons and during the Union blockage of New Orleans during the Civil War era.  Coffee with chickory is still a traditional drink served in New Orleans.  Since chickory is caffeine free, you can drink it any time without the side effects of caffeine.

Dandelion roots can also be roasted and ground to make a caffeine free substitute coffee brew similar to chickory brew.

Roasted chickory can be found in organic food stores or on the internet. You can find your own dandelion roots and roast them yourself, or purchase roasted dandelion roots on the internet.

Roasted Chickory from Amazon.com- ready to brew

Carob Brewed Beverages

Carob is used as a substitute for cocoa and is naturally caffeine free.  After noticing that carob was a main ingredient in some coffee substitute beverages, I tried using carob baking powder in my coffee maker.  I just place it in the coffee filter instead of coffee grounds and brew like coffee.  It tastes sort of like hot chocolate only a bit more bitter.  Brewed carob is an inexpensive coffee substitute.

Carob Powder- brew your own coffee substitute
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Coffee Substitute Blends

Teeccino coffee alternative
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

You can buy coffee substitutes that you brew in your coffee maker to replace ground coffee.  Several coffee substitute blends can be found at organic food shops or on the internet.  These products are blends of ingredients such as chickory, carob, roasted grain, roasted nuts, and other natural ingredients.  Not only do coffee substitutes have no caffeine, but they are much less acidic than coffee as well.  Teeccino, Pero, and Postum are examples.  Teccino has a chocolaty, nutty flavor.

Pero coffee substitute
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Deals on Coffee Substitutes from Amazon

Hot Tea

Hot tea varieties include both regular and decaf tea.  Either type of tea contains much less caffeine than coffee.  You can switch to decaf tea in the evening to avoid interfering with your sleep quality.  Another benefit of tea is that it is less expensive than coffee.

Hot tea is an alternative to coffee with much less caffeine
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal