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Roots and rhizomes

Roots need simmering. That single fact accounts for most disappointing root infusions: hot water poured over a dried root and left for four minutes extracts very little, and the reader concludes the material is weak rather than the method wrong. Decoction is the technique, and it changes the drink completely.

17 recordsSimmered rather than steeped — hot water alone draws very little out of a root.

All 17

  • Angelica root
    Musky and earthy with a celery-like edge and firm bitterness, and a resinous depth that explains its place in gin. Assertive enough that it is nearly always blended.
  • Astragalus
    Gently sweet and slightly beany, closer to a light stock than to a tisane. Easy to drink and easy to lose next to anything stronger.
  • Beetroot
    Sweet and strongly earthy in the way the vegetable is, with a mineral edge. The colour is dramatic and fades to brown-pink with heat and time.
  • Burdock root
    Nutty and earthy with a mild sweetness that comes from the roast rather than the root. Gentler than dandelion and much less bitter, which makes it the easier of the two to drink without sweetening and the harder one to notice in a blend.
  • Chicory root
    Dark and bitter with a caramel base and a thick, almost syrupy body. Closer to coffee than dandelion is, which is why it became the standard extender rather than the standard substitute, and why it survives being brewed strong.
  • Dandelion root
    Dark, bitter and roasted, with a caramel sweetness underneath. It is much closer to coffee than to tea in register, which is why it was used as a substitute.
  • Elecampane
    Very bitter with an odd sweet banana-camphor aroma that has almost nothing to do with the taste. The gap between how it smells and how it tastes is the most striking thing about it.
  • Galangal
    Sharp and pine-like with a soapy citrus note and much less warming heat than ginger. Distinctive enough that substituting ginger for it changes a dish or a drink completely.
  • Ginger
    Hot and pungent with a citrus lift, and considerably hotter when simmered than when steeped. Fresh gives brightness and dried gives heat.
  • Ginseng
    Earthy and firmly bitter with a sweet finish that arrives late. Red ginseng is rounder and more caramelised than white; both need a long simmer to give anything at all.
  • Kudzu
    Nearly neutral with a clean starchy sweetness, and a texture that is the whole experience — kuzuyu is thick, glossy and warming in the mouth in a way no infusion is.
  • Liquorice root
    Very sweet with a distinct anise character and an earthy base. A small quantity sweetens a whole blend, which is largely how it is used.
  • Marshmallow root
    Almost tasteless and remarkably slippery, giving a mouthfeel unlike anything else in the catalogue. What it contributes to a blend is texture rather than flavour.
  • Polygonatum
    Nutty, sweet and toasty, closer to roasted barley than to anything root-like. It is very easy to drink and has none of the bitterness the category usually carries.
  • Sarsaparilla
    Earthy and faintly sweet with the unmistakable root-beer character, though far less sweet and more bitter than any bottled version. Almost always sugared where it is drunk.
  • Turmeric
    Earthy and bitter with a faint citrus edge, and much improved by fat — which is why the traditional preparation is in milk rather than water.
  • Valerian
    Earthy and bitter, with an aroma that is genuinely divisive and that no amount of blending entirely conceals. It is one of the few botanicals whose smell is a widely shared complaint.

Commonly confused within this group

  • Dandelion root and Chicory root — Both roasted bitter roots sold as coffee alternatives, and commonly blended without either being named.
  • Galangal and Ginger — Relatives in the same family that taste nothing alike. Galangal is pine and citrus where ginger is heat, and galangal is too hard to grate.
  • Marshmallow root and Blue mallow — Both are Malvaceae sold loosely as 'mallow'. The root is the mucilaginous one; the flower is there for colour.
  • Marshmallow root and Blue mallow — Root and flower of two Malvaceae both sold as 'mallow', contributing texture and colour respectively.
  • Sarsaparilla and Liquorice root — Both are sold as the root behind root beer and sarsaparilla drinks, and those drinks have been made from either, from other Smilax species, and from neither.

Guides covering this group

Other groups

Grouping is by the plant part used, which is a fact about the material rather than a judgement about flavour. A plant appears in one group only, so cinnamon is a bark and not a spice here even though every kitchen in the world files it the other way.