Real Cafe or Fake? The History of Coffee Adulteration and Substitutes

Is your coffee real? For most of coffee's history, the answer was “not always.” Real cafe, meaning pure ground coffee, was expensive, so sellers stretched it with chicory, roasted grains, beans, acorns and worse, and during wars and shortages people brewed outright substitutes. Food scientists in the 1800s exposed the problem, laws followed, and today a clear label plus whole beans is the easiest way to know you are drinking 100% coffee.

Here is the surprising history of fake and stretched coffee, and a practical guide to reading a coffee bag in 2026.

Why Coffee Was So Easy to Fake

Ground coffee is a dark brown powder. Once beans are roasted and ground, it is hard to tell by eye what else has been mixed in. Add the fact that coffee was a costly import, and you have the perfect product for cheating.

Common historical fillers and substitutes included:

• Chicory root, roasted and ground, the most famous coffee stretcher of all.
• Roasted grains such as barley, rye and wheat.
• Roasted legumes and seeds, including beans, peas and lupin seeds.
• Acorns, especially in wartime.
• Roots and vegetables, such as dandelion root and sweet potato.

Some of these were honest substitutes sold as such. The problem was when they were sold as “pure coffee.”

Real Cafe vs Fake: Scientists Expose the Fraud

In 1820, the German chemist Frederick Accum, working in London, published a famous treatise exposing the adulteration of food and drink. It made the public aware that much of what they bought was not what it claimed to be.

The bigger breakthrough came in the early 1850s, when the British physician Arthur Hill Hassall used the microscope to examine everyday foods and published his findings in the medical journal The Lancet. Coffee was among the products he studied, and he found that much of the ground coffee sold in London contained chicory and other cheaper material. Under the microscope, the plant cells of chicory and grains looked nothing like coffee, so the fraud could finally be proven.

Hassall's work led to Britain's Adulteration of Food and Drink Act of 1860. A later law, the Sale of Food and Drugs Act of 1875, created a stronger system of public analysts and became the basis of modern British food law. In the United States, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 brought federal rules against misbranded and adulterated foods.

Coffee Substitutes in Wars and Shortages

Not every coffee alternative was a scam. When real coffee disappeared, people improvised.

In Germany, grain-based substitute coffee became known as Ersatzkaffee, and German speakers still use the slang word Muckefuck for it. Read more about wartime coffee in Coffee in the American Civil War and Coffee in World War II.

Chicory: from substitute to tradition

Chicory is the rare stretcher that became a beloved flavor. In New Orleans, coffee and chicory is still a proud local style, as we explain in our New Orleans chicory coffee guide. The key difference from the old frauds: today it is clearly labeled.

Is Coffee Still Adulterated Today?

Modern food laws and testing have made blatant fakes much rarer in the US, but coffee fraud has not disappeared entirely. Researchers still develop lab methods to detect fillers in ground and instant coffee, and labeling disputes still happen. The issues you are most likely to meet now are subtler:

• Blends that lean on a famous name. For example, Hawaii allows a coffee to be labeled a “Kona blend” with as little as 10% Kona coffee. The rest can be beans from anywhere.
• Vague origin claims. “Mountain grown” or “gourmet” on its own tells you very little.
• Old coffee. Not fake, but stale. A bag without a roast date may have been sitting for many months.
• Arabica vs Robusta confusion. Both are real coffee, but they taste different; our guide to Arabica vs Robusta explains how.

How to Read a Coffee Label and Find Real Coffee

1. Check the ingredients. Plain roasted coffee should list just one ingredient: coffee. Anything else, such as chicory or flavoring, should be stated.
2. Look for “100%” if you want a single type, such as 100% Arabica, and for the percentage of any named origin in a blend.
3. Find the origin. A country, region or farm is more meaningful than a marketing phrase.
4. Find the roast date. Fresher is better; aim to brew within a few weeks of roasting.
5. Buy whole beans when you can. Whole beans are much harder to stretch with fillers than ground coffee, and they stay fresh longer. See whole bean vs ground coffee.

Our full guide to how to read a coffee bag label covers process, roast level and certifications in detail.

Real Cafe and Coffee Adulteration FAQ

What was coffee adulterated with in the past?

Common fillers included chicory root, roasted grains like barley and rye, roasted beans and peas, acorns and other roots. Many were cheaper materials sold as pure coffee. Food scientists in the 19th century used microscopes to prove the fraud.

Is chicory coffee real coffee?

Chicory itself is not coffee; it is a roasted root with no caffeine. “Coffee and chicory” is a blend of real coffee with chicory, and it is a legitimate product when clearly labeled.

What did people drink instead of coffee during World War II?

With coffee rationed, people used substitutes such as roasted grain, chicory, acorns and commercial drinks like Postum. In Germany, these were called Ersatzkaffee.

How can I tell if my coffee is pure?

Read the ingredient list, look for a stated origin and roast date, and buy whole beans when possible. Whole beans are the simplest way to see that you are getting only coffee.

Drink the Real Thing

Two centuries of chicory scandals and wartime acorn brews make one thing clear: real coffee is worth knowing. At Feel Espresso, our coffees are roasted 1–5 days before delivery, so you get beans at their freshest. Explore our single origin coffees, start with the nutty, chocolatey Brazil Santos, or try the classic Colombia.