Filter Coffee With or Without Chicory? How to Choose

The Kaapiswada family · 2026-10-03

Should you buy filter coffee with or without chicory? If you drink your kaapi with plenty of hot milk and love a thick, dark, slightly bittersweet decoction, choose a coffee-chicory blend (like Kaapiswada Giriswada: our 80:20 blend made with single-estate Arabica from our own family estate in Chikmagalur). If you want to taste the coffee itself, drink it with less milk, or simply prefer nothing but coffee in your filter, choose pure coffee with no chicory (like Kaapiswada Pureswada: 100% single-estate Arabica from the same estate, no chicory).

That is the short answer. Both are honest ways to make filter coffee, and neither is "wrong". We grow our coffee on our own estate in the Mullayanagiri foothills of Chikmagalur, and we make both kinds from the same single-estate Arabica. Here is how we think about the choice.

What chicory actually is

Chicory is the root of a flowering plant. For filter coffee, the root is dried, roasted and ground, then mixed with ground coffee. It is not a coffee bean and it is not a flavouring. It is a separate roasted root that sits in the filter alongside the coffee.

Some people discover chicory only after years of drinking filter coffee and feel a little cheated. That is fair: you should know clearly what is inside your coffee and in what ratio. Ours is simple: Giriswada is 80% Arabica and 20% chicory, and Pureswada is 100% Arabica with no chicory at all.

Filter coffee with chicory: what it does to your cup

Chicory changes the decoction in a few ways you can see and taste:

Colour. The decoction comes out darker, almost black.
Body. It feels thicker and heavier, so a small amount of decoction still colours a full tumbler of milk.
Taste. It adds a roasted, earthy, slightly bitter note that many families grew up with and now call "real" filter kaapi.
Strength against milk. Because of that body, the coffee does not disappear when you add hot, full-fat milk and sugar.

This is why chicory blends became the everyday filter coffee of South Indian homes. The cup is built for milk.

One more thing to know: chicory root has no caffeine. So in a blend, part of every spoon is chicory rather than coffee. If you are used to a blend and switch to pure coffee, keep that in mind when you measure.

Filter coffee without chicory: what changes

When there is no chicory, everything in the filter is coffee. You get:

A cleaner, lighter decoction, more brown than black
More of the coffee's own character, the flavour of where and how it was grown
A smoother cup with less of that roasted-root bitterness

The trade-off is body. Pure coffee decoction is thinner, so if you pour it into a big tumbler of milk the way you would a chicory blend, it can taste weak. The fix is simple: use a little more powder, or a little less milk.

How to choose between them

Ask yourself three questions.

1. How much milk do you use? If your kaapi is mostly milk, roughly one part decoction to three parts milk, a chicory blend will hold up better. If you like it darker with less milk, pure coffee shines.

2. What did you grow up drinking? If the taste you remember from home, or from the darshini down the road, is thick and bittersweet, that memory is very likely a chicory blend. Start there.

3. Do you want to taste the estate? If you are curious about the coffee itself, where it was grown, how it was roasted, go without chicory. You will notice more.

There is no harm in trying both. Some homes keep one of each and choose by mood: a strong chicory kaapi in the morning, a cleaner cup in the afternoon.

What ratio of chicory is usual?

Blends are usually described as coffee to chicory, for example 80:20, 70:30 or 60:40. The higher the chicory share, the darker and heavier the decoction and the less coffee is in each spoon.

We settled on 80:20 for our Giriswada because it keeps the thick, milk-friendly decoction people expect from filter kaapi while letting our Arabica remain the main voice in the cup. Our Pureswada is the same estate Arabica with no chicory at all, for those who want only coffee. You can see both, along with our whole beans, on our coffee page.

Brewing tips for each

The filter is the same; small adjustments help.

With chicory (like an 80:20 blend):

Two to three heaped tablespoons in the top chamber is usually plenty.
Do not press the disc down. Chicory blends are fine and can block the water if packed tight.
The decoction is strong, so start with less in the tumbler and add more to taste.

Without chicory (pure coffee):

Use a little more powder than you would with a blend, around half a tablespoon extra to start.
Use water just off the boil so the decoction does not turn weak.
Try a slightly higher decoction-to-milk ratio than you are used to.

For the full step-by-step method, from filling the filter to the frothy pour between davara and tumbler, read our guide on how to make South Indian filter coffee at home.

Questions people ask

Is filter coffee always mixed with chicory?

No. Many filter coffee powders are coffee-chicory blends, but you can also buy filter coffee powder that is 100% coffee (like Kaapiswada Pureswada: single-estate Arabica grown by our family in the Mullayanagiri foothills of Chikmagalur). Check the pack: a blend should state its coffee-to-chicory ratio clearly.

Can I make strong filter coffee without chicory?

Yes. Use a little more powder, keep the water hot and do not press the coffee down. The decoction will be lighter in colour than a chicory blend, but the coffee flavour will be strong and clear.

Does chicory reduce the caffeine in filter coffee?

Chicory root itself has no caffeine, so in a blend part of each spoon is chicory instead of coffee. A spoon of an 80:20 blend therefore contains less coffee than a spoon of pure coffee.

What does 80:20 mean on a filter coffee pack?

It means 80 parts coffee and 20 parts chicory by weight. In our Giriswada, those 80 parts are Arabica grown on our own estate in Chikmagalur.

Which should I buy first?

If you drink milky, sweet kaapi and like it thick, start with a chicory blend. If you like a lighter cup or want to taste the coffee itself, start with pure Arabica. We send both across India, and you can always try the other next time.