Coffee substitutes are beverages and preparations made from roasted roots (most famously chicory), grains (barley, rye), figs, dandelion and other botanicals that imitate coffee’s roasted flavor or appearance while offering little or no caffeine. Historically they emerged whenever real coffee was scarce, expensive or culturally resisted for example chicory became a widespread coffee alternative in Europe during the Napoleonic-era Continental Blockade and later in regions with limited coffee imports.