From beetroots and carrots to kale and even broccoli, veggies can be found in many tea blends. In fact, vegetable teas are more common than it seems. Would drinking vegetables with green tea count as 5-a-day? Not really but trying it may actually be a good idea. They can pair amazingly well with freshness and vegetal notes of many green teas. Let's see how to add vegetables to your tea, which ones will give the best flavour and which you should avoid.
Why did we try steeping vegetables with tea?
While at first it may not seem appealing to have a cup of vegetable flavoured tea, let's look at it from another perspective. Many types of tea, especially green tea, will have a naturally fresh vegetal flavour. Japanese sencha may have light spinach notes, gyokuro is famous for its seaweed umami flavour and Chinese Mao Jian is vegetal and grassy. All these flavours have a potential to pair well with vegetables. Plus, earthy beetroots and sweet carrots may go well with fruit and black teas.
However, the flavour of many pure green teas can easily get lost in a heavily flavoured blend. Although gunpowder tea and some types of senchas aare great for blending and flavouring, many of them aren't. The tea we chose is rarely used in flavoured blends – Chinese Dragon Well or Long Jing tea. Long Jing has unique flat leaves and is lighter than other green teas. It's nutty, sweet and vegetal, and many stronger ingredients would ruin its delicate flavour. And that's exactly why it seemed like a good idea to steep it together with some fresh vegetables.
How to steep vegetables with green tea
- When making a cup of green tea with vegetables, choose vegetables that are edible raw, such as:
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- Baby spinach
- Kale
- Celeriac root
- Celery
- Carrots
- Beetroot
- Cucumbers
- Peppers
- Sugar pea
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Avoid vegetables that shouldn't be eaten raw, such as potatoes or beans, or those that may give a VERY strong flavour – such as onions and garlic (although, garlic tea exists too, and potatoes make a great milk alternative!)
- Wash it thoroughly, thinly slice it and steep together with 1 teaspoon of tea leaves.
- Don't use boiling water for brewing green tea and don't over-steep it. Water temperature should be around 70-80 degrees Celsius (158-176°F), depending on the tea type.
- Steep it for 2-3 minutes and strain. You can re-steep the same leaves once or twice.
5 different vegetables with green tea test
To give you a good idea how it tastes, we tried steeping pure green tea with a carrot, beetroot, celeriac root, chilli pepper and cucumber. Here's how it tastes.
1. Carrot green tea
Carrots are popular for their sweetness and distinctive flavour that can pair well with many other ingredients, and with green tea too. A real proof carrots are great in desserts is the classic carrot cake. Steeped with green tea leaves, they add a light orange tone and a light top and bottom carrot note, with leaving the green tea flavour intact. Should you try it? Yes, if you like the flavour of carrots, try it iced and with optional ingredients such as mango or pineapple.
2. Chilli pepper green tea
Chilli is actually a popular ingredient in tea blends, especially rooibos and chai blends. It adds a very strong and vegetal scent to tea and doesn't influence the colour. Chilli peppers give a hot, but surprisingly very drinkable tea. It's strong, spicy, but the flavour of green tea is still there. Not convinced you should try it? Think of it as a stronger substitute for ginger and a good ingredient for making a comforting and warming green tea on cool winter mornings.
3. Celeriac green tea
Celeriac root has a very similar flavour to celery, with an additional earthy note. It's often used for making creamy soups or to add flavour to vegetable and chicken clear soups. So, can you steep it with green tea too? In fact, you can. It gives a very delicate touch without ruining the green tea flavour. It doesn't change the colour either. Is it worth trying? Yes, especially for making an iced tea, steeped together with herbs and fruits such as rosemary and raspberries.
4. Beetroot green tea
Beetroot is one of the most versatile root vegetable in the world. It tastes great sweet, sour and salty, and has a beautiful intense colour that will instantly change the colour of green tea. Nutty and toasty notes of green tea pair really well with earthy beetroot, but the flavour is distinctive. Meaning, if you like beetroots, you will enjoy it because it will alter the flavour more than many other vegetables. The best way to drink it? It would make for an amazing proper sweet, iced tea – just use a stronger green tea such as gunpowder.
5. Cucumber green tea
Is cucumber tea tasty? Cucumbers are a must try for steeping with green tea! They add a super flavour note to green tea, unlike any other vegetable. They can make green tea taste sweeter and cooler, and just perfect for daily summer sipping. You don't need to worry about adding too much either – cucumbers are light enough not to ruin the tea. You can try it iced and with a slice of lemon too.
Is it worth trying to steep tea with vegetables?
Definitely! You can experiment with your favourite vegetables or create even more intrinsic flavours by adding more ingredients. Steep them together with green tea that has a vegetal and fresh flavour. Keep the steeping time up to 3 minutes and drink hot or iced.
Need more ideas on how to flavour tea?