Beet Cabbage (Savory Tea)

Thank you QueenOfTarts for this sample.

I have plucked up the courage to try this tea tonight before my husband gets home. It’s something I have considered trying even before I received a bag of it, I’m more savoury than sweet. But the idea of a cabbage and beetroot tea sounds….well disgusting and criminal.

The teabag smelled like dry cabbage soup mix, it was thick, sour and generally vegetal. It says to place the tea in 10oz (which is roughly 284ml) of boiling water and cover while it steeps for a minimum of 10 minutes. It also states that you can leave the bag in while you drink if you would like it stronger. So far I’m thinking EEEKKK!

The tea soup is now steeped and has turned dark beetroot red in colour. It has a closes eyes smelly sock odour mixed with old stale cabbage.

Well here goes nothing….
Pulls many different faces
Well at least it’s lighter in flavour than it is in scent. The cabbage and beetroot are both firmly present and are of equal strength but there is also a herbal after taste that I am unsure of. It lists mustard seed and coriander and it sort of does taste like dried coriander seeds but I’m not detecting anything mustard like at all.

Alright picture this…
You have steamed some cabbage leaves and have drained the water into a separate container. Then you add dry coriander seeds and shred small pieces of beetroot into this leftover cabbage water and bring to the boil for 10 minutes before serving. If that has you feeling hungry then perhaps this is the tea for you. If you are turning green and feel queezy then you may wish to stay clear of this one.

As for me it’s an experience and I’m thankful to have tried it but this particular flavour is not for me. While I love cabbage (I would eat it everyday if my IBS would let me) I am not overly keen on beetroot of any form. This is a no from me but as an additional note my kitten Sooty is might curious about it’s smell and he keeps charging in for quick sniffs.

I received a tea bag as a sample when I went to the Coffee and Tea Festival. I was disappointed that I didn’t get another kind because I don’t like beets. Well, I’ve never actually eaten any, they just look icky. I gave it a try anyway. Why not?

A quick note on the color of the liquor: what a red! The “bright crimson” is such a gorgeous color. While I waited for the tea to cool, I took the time to admire it.

The tea bag smells heavily of the spices. The aroma of the infusion is less intense, with the beets standing out more. Smells like soup. It also tastes like soup, albeit watery soup (obviously). The flavor is full-bodied and strong, but not overtly so, and the beets and spices are well-balanced. Also, good combination of spices. What I like most about the flavor is that it leaves a long-lasting aftertaste.

This tea is appropriately “savory.” I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Makes me want to try the others. Yay coupons!

I got this as a free sample at the Philly Coffee and Tea Fest 2013. I actually was excited to try this. Never saw it before, but I really like Numi teas and Beet Cabbage-I mean, who would of thought. Said to let steep for 10 mins-which I did. It had a red color to it, but it wasn’t as red as you would think being beets are in the name. I think the black tea mellowed out the red. I could smell the beet and cabbage as well as the black tea. Tasted all three as well. The cabbage was distinct, I think you have to like cabbage, to like this. All in all, I would drink again. Think I would try the tomato one first. I actually have the spinach chive, which I am going to try tomorrow. This is just what it says it is, tea with veggie taste added, so don’t read into more than that-it is what it is!

Consider this teabag is from an ancient teabox.  I was intrigued – a savory tea.  Numi has (or had) a line of six weird savory teas. This one wouldn’t have been the one I most wanted to try… As I was debating what tea to have, I noticed that there were staple holes in the wrapping, which means the wrapper had been partially opened for all these years.  I’m not sure if this is why this tea now tastes like a compost pile?  Or if it would have tasted like that anyway?  The black tea didn’t taste like decaf, but it didn’t taste like a robust black tea either – more like an empty palate base for this weird flavor.  Both steeps tasted the same. Of course, I knew when I took it from the teabox that I would regret that it would take me forever to try such a unique tea.  But probably, if I want soup, I’ll just eat soup. I feel like I want to live on tomato soup all winter but I can not stand normal tomatoes. So that’s weird. I get all my tomato in soup and KETCHUP.

This one isn’t really working for me. Having just come back from Poland I’ve had a lot of beets and cabbage recently so I’m very familiar with the taste of both, and despite how dark red this brews up the taste of it is mostly cabbage. It’s oddly sweet, but not in a way that reminds me of beet flavor—beets are just about my favorite vegetable and I would have loved to find more of them in here. Instead it’s reminiscent of cooked cabbage, but not balanced enough with salt or other flavors to be appetizing. The consistency is watery like the other savory teas, but in this case I find it more unpleasant than I found the others. I’ll be giving it a pass.

After trying the Carrot Curry savory tea, I was excited to get ahold of the others. Luckily, my sweetheart was making an Amazon order a couple of days ago, so I added the variety box to it. I’m not sure why I chose this one to try tonight, it just sounded so interesting and I figured it would be somewhat sweet considering it contains beets. The dry bag smelled strongly of cabbage and savory spices.

Whew, the brewed tea smells like cabbage soup! Luckily, I don’t mind cabbage, though it’s not my favorite. The flavor of this tea is much more subtle than the aroma, in fact, it’s almost too subtle. The main taste is boiled cabbage, and there’s a sweetness from the beets. The spicing is very mild, though I do get warmth from the clove near the end of the sip. I can definitely taste the parsley, and it adds a nice fresh flavor. Overall, I do enjoy the flavor, but I wish there was more of it. Perhaps next time I’ll steep this with less water and see if that improves the strength. I find that I really enjoy these savory vegetable teas as a caffeine-free nighttime option.

In other news, this is my 300th tasting note. Huzzah!

This has been my least favborite of the savory teas I’ve tried so far. And I actually like beets.

This was the least broth of them as well, in that I found it texturally more watery feeling. There’s definitely an element of cabbage, while the beet and apple lend a sweetness to the cup. I think you have to like cabbage for this one, and I just don’t care for cooked cabbage of any kind really. It’s definitely savory and the spices work well with what’s here, though.

But man does this brew up a gorgeous scarlet color.