Anyone that pays any attention to economics knows that prices are on the rise and have been for some time now. Until a couple months ago we were a long term unemployed couple beginning to believe that neither of us would ever find work again so everywhere where we could cut spending, we did. Coffee was one of those areas as there are several plants, nuts, and seeds that can make a suitable substitute or used to stretch the real thing. Of the many things we taste tested, we found the okra to have the best flavor, be the least amount of work, and it was something we could grow as a food source for ourselves and the critters yet still have plenty to supplement our coffee supply.
Anyone that has ever grown okra knows what it is like when you miss a couple days of harvesting and it gets away from you. You end up with a giant, tough pod that is not fit for human consumption. Even a die hard seed saver can justify saving just so many seeds in a year so why not use them as a different food source? We plant a lot of okra here on the land because we like okra and all the critters like okra. But, come the end of the season when we are sick of fetchin okra every day I leave the pods to grow and either dry on the plant or pick them once very large and dry the pods. These trays I obviously picked. The plants were so heavy they were laying on the ground.
Keep in mind, this is not coffee,doesn't taste like coffee in the sense we are used to, and there is no caffeine in it. There is one type of plant in the USA that does have caffeine and can serve as a coffee substitute and that is in the holly family. It is however a really economical, easy way to stretch what coffee you do have or a nice un-caffeinated hot beverage on those cold afternoon.
Very cool, I'm going to give this a shot when I bring in my okra seed this fall.
ReplyDeleteSo, what's the plant in the US that does have caffeine and is used as a coffee substitute?
is is a type of holly that has caffeine in it..
ReplyDeleteIlex vomitoria. The Yaupon holly. Dry the leaves and steep them like tea.
DeleteCan okra grow in Rigby Idaho? I have not heard of anybody growing it here...but we grew it back in southern indiana... I LOVE IT!!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Oh ya...what is the exact name of the caffiene holly and where does it grow?
DeleteIlex vomitoria. The Yaupon holly. Dry the leaves and steep them like tea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mat%C3%A9
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_maté
ReplyDeletechicory root is what the old timers made "coffee" out of. havent had it, but those who have jus LUV it!!!
ReplyDeleteit grows as a wildflower round here in the ditches n such... havent tried it yet, but one day i will!!!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-wandering-chicken-and-mini-farm/237615162921404
This is VERY neat to learn, thanks! After many years of trying, I still can't grow many veggies in my poor soil, but okra is one that I've had success with. And I do know about how they can get too big and woody so quickly. Daddy recently told me they picked theirs everyday, oops.
ReplyDeleteNow I'll save the big pod's seeds to hopefully stretch expensive coffee, or Heaven forbid be able to serve coffee alternative should coffee become scarce.
I also want to learn if the kind of chicory that makes chicons could also be used as a coffee alternative. I think it would be awesome to have cut off tender leaves during spring and summer, collect the roots to force as chicons during fall/winter, then after a few chicons have been made, chop/roast the roots for coffee. If all that's possiblee, that would be a lot of goodies from just one plant ^_^
PS: Here's the info on caffeine from holly: http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/yaupon-holly.html
The question about what the US plant is that has caffeine and has been used as a coffee substitute needs a disclaimer. Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) has been marketed since 2012 by a company as a tea, but it has been heavily processed. Hollies are POISONOUS. Only a few red berries can kill a child or a small pet. It is the leaves and bark that are used for the tea. It was used in Native American male purification rituals that involved VOMITING. That is the reason the plant is called Ilex VOMITORIA. Hollies come in male and female plants. I don't know which sex plant is the one used for tea. BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE, IF YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE THIS ON YOUR OWN.
ReplyDeleteIlex vomitoria was used in vomiting ceremonies in great quantity, and the quantity they were consuming played a role in the vomiting. Eastern NC people have been picking and roasting yaupon leaves for hundreds of years without getting poisoned or throwing up. We don't eat the berries which we recognize as poisonous. I have never heard of anyone using the bark, either. Recommend anyone wanting to try yaupon tea look for a vendor online that has a lot of successful sales under their belt, and try it that way.
DeleteNative Americans drank the tea from Ilex vomitoria and I have, too. The dwarf version is also fine to use. Please be careful when you use the word poisonous. Anything we eat can actually be considered poisonous in excessive quantities. However it doesn’t mean death in almost all cases. Ilex vomitoria in enough quantity will be a purgative rather than an uplifting tea. And it’s been used medicinally for that purpose. But for occasional or even twice a day (like many coffee drinkers) it should not pose a problem. You are right that everyone who wants to consume herbs should learn about them first. But we don’t need to be made so fearful that we miss reaping the many benefits that herbs have to provide.
DeleteThis was a fun experiment - trying to make okra coffee. We didn't have as much success as you seem to have ;-) - you can see our okra coffee experiment at our blog - https://roamingparkers.com/2017/08/04/okra-coffee/
ReplyDeletenice post............I also write a review here
ReplyDeletehttps://www.coffeemakergeek.com/
I made okra coffee. I added cream and sugar it was delicious! It was warm and smooth like regular coffee. It was soothing to know that I was taking in any caffeine. I pulverized my roasted seeds in a baggie surrounded by towels with my hammer.
ReplyDeleteAgain this was delicious. Definitely going to make again.