Orzo

My friend with a broken foot came from Italy originally and drinks Orzo all the times.

Caffé d'orzo... qu'est-ce que c'est?

Orzo, itself, is a kind of roasted grain beverage made from barley-- thus, caffeine-free.

The kind my friend drinks all the time, though, is Orzo & Caffè, which is equivalent to decaffeinated coffee... I guess...

So I was told by my friend with a broken foot... during the war, there was a shortage of coffee and many more people drank Orzo instead in Italy... such as my friend's parents.  Interestingly, it never became big outside of Italy, if not Europe.

Unfortunately, despite of my diligent efforts, I have some problems finding any info over the Internet to either support or refute the validity of the above statement.  Please feel free to correct me.

The two pictures show you what my friend's instant Orzo & Caffè by Ristora looks like... though the looks might be different, the ingredients are the same... barley 46%, rye, chicory, malt, instant coffee 35 % and low fat cocoa.