What chicory is actually doing

Chicory arrived in South Indian coffee the way it arrived everywhere else, as a way of making a scarce import go further. It stayed for a better reason: it makes the drink work.

Roasted chicory root is water soluble in a way coffee is not. Added at around twenty percent, it thickens the decoction noticeably and carries a faint, dark sweetness of its own. Pour that into hot milk and it holds its shape instead of thinning out into something beige.

Without it, the decoction is cleaner, more bitter, and more obviously about the coffee. Some people much prefer that, which is why we sell both and treat neither as the lesser one.

If you have never brewed a decoction before, start with the chicory blend. It is more forgiving about timing than the pure one, and it is what most households are actually drinking.