Caffè d'Orzo (Barley Coffee)
Drink · Italian · Vegetarian
Italy’s caffeine-free coffee: roasted barley, ground and brewed in a moka pot like coffee, or stirred in as instant powder. It is toasty, nutty and lightly bitter, with none of coffee’s acidity. Italian bars serve it in a small cup or a large one, black or with milk.
Barley contains gluten, so this is not for anyone with coeliac disease.
Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Postum and Coffee Substitutes page.
Ingredients
Moka pot
- 2 to 3 tablespoons ground roasted barley (orzo macinato), enough to fill the basket of a 3-cup moka pot
- About 150 ml (⅔ cup) water, to just below the moka pot’s valve
Instant
- 1 to 2 teaspoons soluble barley (orzo solubile)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) hot water or milk
- Sugar and milk to taste
Directions
Moka pot
- Fill the lower chamber with water to just below the valve. Fill the basket with ground barley, level it with a finger, and do not tamp it: barley swells more than coffee and a packed basket can block.
- Screw the pot together and heat over medium-low until the brew comes through, then take it off as soon as it gurgles. Pour into small cups, and add milk and sugar if you like.
Instant
- Stir the soluble barley into hot water or milk until dissolved.
Notes
About it Roasted barley has been drunk in Italy since the first half of the nineteenth century and became especially popular in the 1930s, when imports were cut. Italians drank about 9 million kg of it in 2017, most of it as soluble powder (Beverfood). Nestlé’s Orzoro, Crastan and Orzobimbo are the big brands. Buying it Italian delis sell ground roasted barley for the moka pot and soluble barley in jars. The proportions This kitchen’s starting point. The photo A cup of caffè d’orzo with a spoon.