There's one thing about coffee that doesn't sit well with people who don't make a lot of money. It's expensive. It's always going to be expensive. My wife told me about how she had rice coffee when she was young because her family was too poor to buy coffee. So I knew about rice coffee, but I didn't know there was also a corn coffee.
It's Not Coffee
I don't know why people insist on calling it rice coffee or corn coffee. Unlike teas that are called teas even when they're not make from tea plant, rice and corn coffee aren't even brewed like coffee.
Perhaps it's due to the way it looks as opposed to how it's made. Both rice coffee and corn coffee is as dark as black coffee after the ingredients are boiled. My wife swears the rice coffee tastes like regular coffee. I don't think so, but I can't argue the point since I've never tasted it.
Making Rice Coffee
My wife said all they did to make rice coffee was to take raw, white rice and roast it in a skillet until it was almost burnt. Then they would add it to water and boil it. After they poured the liquid into cups, they would discard the rice sediment at the bottom of the pot.
I read somewhere else that the rice was to be ground (with a mortar and pestle) before boiling, but my wife said it wasn't necessary.
Making Corn Coffee
I haven't read a description of how corn coffee is made, but it's supposed to taste like coffee too. From what I've read, though, Native Americans in the US and Canada were drinking corn coffee more than a century ago.
I'm not even going to consider it. It probably tastes worse than Postum did.
No Coffee Means No Coffee
My wife said she'd make rice coffee when she gets back to the Philippines, just so that I can taste it for myself. I'm sorry, but coffee is coffee and there isn't a substitute for me. If I can't get the real stuff then I don't want any kind of "make believe" coffee. I'd rather do without coffee than to try to fool my taste buds and my stomach into believing that something else could be just as good as real coffee.
(Image source: Corn Coffee at Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine :: Food PhotoBlog and Events)
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Reminds me of liquid smoke. They burn wood filter the smoke into water and use the liquid to flavor things. It is suppose to make it taste like it was cooked over a fire or grill. Most people like the caffine in coffee so rice coffee would not be thier first choice.
My last blog post… Router bits.
There is no substitute for coffee! I prefer mine black without the frills. – have you ever tried egg coffee? YUM
yes, my mum used to make this in the philippines, and it really tastes like coffee. you should try it. and no, you don't have to ground the rice, as it tastes great after boiling too. i have to prepare my own meals since studying here in france, and last night, i managed to burn some rice that i was cooking. that's why i was looking for the "recipe" of rice coffee, and chanced upon your blog.
I just bought a bag of Dandy Blend which tastes EXACTLY like coffee. It is supposed to be roasted rye, barley, dandylion, beetroot, chickory root but actually tastes like it is simply burnt something. After reading this I wonder if it matters what you burn as long as you get the burn flavor like roasted coffee beans. Perhaps that is all coffee is !!!!!!!
(Maybe the caffeine from the coffee bean is what made the coffee bean more popular than other burnt grains?)
Corn were just called such "corn coffee" to connote looking/tasting like coffee, but it isn't coffee literally as there's no coffee in it…in short no caffeine. But it does taste like coffee. So if you are after health benefits this is it. Have corn coffee for better health benefits. Coffee as they say is full of anti-oxidants, before there were many write ups made about coffee, now its seemed pegged to one, anti-oxidant. However, coffee causes palpitations too to some other people. So it is your choice what is best for you.
according to the book i've read(intro. to food technology) coffee as a beverage is classified into ground coffee,decaffeinated coffee et.al then the last is the substitute coffee,substitute coffee are beans or other seeds roasted and intended to use as coffee..so rice coffee is a substitute coffee,thats why it can be also called as coffee also….actually its my enterprise study here in the Philippines…and i am selling Herbalink rice coffee 3 in 1 coffeemix…cause it has muscovado sugar and creamer,and a little bit of ginger and coconut sugar…my rice coffee is ground up roasted rice and im not using tea bags….so its applicable also..try to check on my facebook account..i have there photo of my rice coffee product.
In Bukidnon, Philippines, there's a group of poor farmers noted for their corn coffee. A lot of coffee connoisseurs don't like naming it "coffee" since it's a misnomer. Still, I patronize it because there's a social reason behind it.
My father was a prisoner of war of the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. I remember him telling me that the prisoners made coffee from roasted rice.