Dandelion is a perennial member of the aster family that is the bane of
many gardeners and farmers throughout the northern hemisphere. To
herbalists, however, this sunny flower represents the potential for
dandelion flower wine, spring salads greens from the young leaves and
dandelion “coffee” from the roasted roots.
Although the use of dandelion has a long history that dates back
centuries, the use of the root as a caffeine-free alternative to coffee
wasn’t widely known until the mid-1800s. The earliest known published
accounts of this culinary discovery appeared in The New York Albion
sometime in the 1830s and in an 1886 edition of Harpers New Monthly
Magazine.
