Win a Bag of Café Orzo: The Italian Caffeine-Free Alternative to Coffee

41 CommentsMonday • July 19, 2010 • by michelle

If you’ve been in a bar in Italy, you may have heard someone order “un caffè d’orzo” instead of a plain old un caffè.

What is orzo?

Orzo is roasted barley, naturally caffeine-free, and DEEE-licious. I drink orzo from time to time, although I normally make it with milk into an orzo latte or orzoccino instead of drinking it like coffee — but you can certainly just put it in your coffee or espresso maker (it’s brewed the same way) and drink it “straight” like un caffè.

Where can I find orzo?

If you’re in Italy, it’s sold next to coffee in the grocery store or, of course, at the bar, but if you’re in the United States, you can now find Café Orzo in American coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants.

Café Orzo is made by two leaves and a bud, the award-winning tea company based in Colorado. They were kind enough to send me a sample when I was in the U.S., and it tasted just like what I knew in Italy. That is, YUM.

If you can’t get Café Orzo in your favorite establishment, why not tell the management about it?

What does orzo taste like?

As Café Orzo explains on its Facebook page:

It’s much richer than tea, and while we consider it an alternative to coffee, its flavor is distinctly different. Café Orzo has an earthy, nutty taste, and naturally occurring sugars in the barley impart a slight sweetness.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. I personally consider orzo a whole different drink from coffee or tea — something truly in a class all by itself.

You can also follow two leaves and a bud on Facebook, by the way.

Where does Café Orzo come from?

Café Orzo is 100% certified organic roasted barley that grows on small farms in Italy, near the Adriatic Sea and is artisan roasted in small batches. Yes — you’re getting the real thing from the Bel Paese.

Isn’t “orzo” a type of pasta?

Some Americans and others may know orzo as a type of small soup pasta, and indeed there is a pasta by this name, but don’t be fooled when you’re in a bar in Italy, where it’s roasted barley. In other words, if you order orzo here in a bar, you won’t get a cup of rice-like pasta, I promise.

Didn’t you mention a giveaway?

Yes!

Just comment* here with how you would enjoy your Café Orzo if you won a bag (if you’re not sure of the possibilities, check out the recipes) by 11:59 p.m. next Sunday, July 25, 2010, and you will be entered in the random drawing for a bag of Café Orzo direct from the company.

For extra chances to win, be sure to check in over at the Bleeding Espresso page on Facebook!

* Sorry for international readers, but the giveaway is limited to those with United States shipping addresses for shipping/customs reasons. If you comment below but aren’t eligible for the drawing, please specify as such (a quick “international” notation will work).