What Caro Landkaffee actually is

Caro Landkaffee is an instant grain coffee, known in Germany as Malzkaffee or Landkaffee. The powder is made from roasted barley, barley malt, chicory and rye, with no added flavours or preservatives, and it contains no caffeine at all. That makes it a genuine caffeine free coffee alternative rather than a reduced caffeine one, which matters if you are pregnant, sensitive to caffeine, or making a warm drink for children in the evening.

The taste is mild and gently malty, closer to a soft, toasty warmth than to the roasted bitterness of coffee. It is vegan, very low in calories at 7 kcal per 100ml, and it contains no declarable allergens. Preparation is quick: stir 1.5 teaspoons of powder into 120ml of hot water at around 80°C, or make it with hot or foamed milk for something creamier.

Why people look for a coffee substitute

Two reasons come up again and again. The first is availability. Caro is a staple in German supermarkets, and people who grew up with it, or discovered it on holiday, come home to find that British supermarkets simply do not carry it. The second is caffeine. Many searchers are looking for a substitute for coffee itself and have heard of Caro as the German answer to that problem.

If you are in the second group, Caro is exactly what you are looking for. If you are in the first group and want to know what British products come close, here is the honest picture.

Chicory drinks: the most common UK option

Chicory based instant drinks are the easiest grain coffee relatives to find in the UK, in supermarkets as well as health food shops. The trade-off is balance. On its own, chicory tends towards a sharper, more bitter and slightly earthy taste, without the rounded maltiness that barley and barley malt bring to Caro. If you drink Caro for its mildness, a pure chicory drink will feel noticeably harsher.

Barley drinks: closer in character

Barley based instant drinks, often sold in health food shops as well, sit closer to Caro's core character, since barley and barley malt make up the heart of the Caro blend. Expect the malty, toasty side of the taste without the gentle background depth that chicory and rye add. Of the two common UK options, a barley drink is usually the better starting point for anyone who misses Caro, and some people blend in a little chicory drink to rebuild the missing depth by hand.

What does not really work

Decaffeinated coffee solves a different problem. It still tastes of coffee, with the roast and the bite, so it will not satisfy anyone who actually likes the mild grain character of Malzkaffee. Malted bedtime drinks made with milk powder and sugar are sweeter, heavier drinks in a different category altogether. Neither is a like for like swap.

The simplest answer: the original

Since the real thing can be delivered to a UK address, the substitute question mostly answers itself. We stock Caro Landkaffee instant drink powder in the 200g pack, the same product found in German supermarkets. One pack goes a long way at 1.5 teaspoons per cup, and it works at breakfast, in the afternoon, or as an evening drink where coffee would keep you awake.

You will find it alongside our other hot drinks in the German instant coffee section of our drinks range, together with the German coffee brands to try when you do want the caffeine.