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Café au lait (New Orleans)

Mostly associated with New Orleans, this American version of café au lait is made with the blend of ground coffee and chicory. This practice stems from the French tradition, where chicory root was primarily used as a coffee substitute.


The root is roasted and ground before it is combined with coffee and then brewed, usually using a drip coffee maker or a French press. In the United States, this coffee variety appeared during the Civil War, when coffee was scarce and expensive. The combination remained popular in New Orleans, where the blend is brewed, and the coffee is served with equal parts of brewed coffee and scalded milk (milk that is heated just below the boiling point).


A common tradition in New Orleans is to drink this type of coffee with beignets—sugar-coated fritters. It is said that the combination works well because the hefty amount of sugar on the beignets perfectly complements the distinctive, slightly bitter flavor of café au lait.