WordNet
n. a drink resembling coffee that is sometimes substituted for it
Wikipedia
Coffee substitutes are non- coffee products, usually without caffeine, that are used to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes can be used for medical, economic and religious reasons, or simply because coffee is not readily available. Roasted grain beverages are common substitutes for coffee.
In World War II, acorns were used to make coffee, as were roasted chicory and grain. During the American Civil War coffee was also scarce in the South:
Coffee substitutes are sometimes used in preparing foods served to children or to people who avoid caffeine, or in the belief that they are healthier than coffee. For religious reasons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, refrain from drinking coffee, but not all hot drinks; some may drink a substitute.
Some culinary traditions, like that of Korea, include beverages made from roasted grain instead of coffee or tea (including boricha, oksusu cha, and hyeonmi cha). These do not substitute for coffee but fill its niche as a hot drink (optionally sweetened).
Usage examples of "coffee substitute".
She went off to bed while the adults lingered in the kitchen over a coffee substitute made of roasted grains, mere sour brown water.
Hot soup and a beverage resembling coffee substitute were distributed.
He began searching the cupboards for a bottle of Venusian-grown coffee substitute.
The survey team had discovered and recommended a Pernese shrub bark as a coffee substitute, but Sallah did not have much faith in that.
I walked down to Trinavant Park and saw that Lieutenant Farrell was still on guard duty policing the pigeons, then I went into the Greek joint and ordered a cup of coffee substitute and sat at a table.
Over a cup of muckefuk, as the coffee substitute was called, we thought back to the battle of Normandy, to the terrible events in the Falaise pocket and, of course, to the bitter house-to-house fighting in Rittershoffen.
Out in the hovel's kitchen area, as she rummaged through the cupboard over the sink looking for the meager stash of coffee substitute, Sarah weighed her options.