Savory Cocktails and Vegetable-Based Beverages
Usually, sweet drinks come to mind when we think about cocktails and refreshing beverages. At the same time, however, according to the renowned MICHELIN guide, “there is a whole world of savory drinks to explore.” With bold, smoky, umami, and nostalgic flavors already trending in 2024, we think you might be pleasantly surprised.
Tea and soup drinking, even chilled, offers an enticing alternative snack. Beyond being deliciously different, these savory options are also likely to be low-sugar or sugar-free, offer reduced calories, and have no or limited caffeine.
Discovering MICHELIN-Recommended Savory Delights
Vegetable-based beverage alternatives are as diverse as the fresh product. Published suggestions to serve in a cup, mug, or bowl include:
- Vegetable-based savory teas: It’s true – most teas are savory in their natural form. However, aromatics and vegetables are steeped in this case to produce a light tea-like consommé. Examples include sipping broths offering an intense umami flavor using dried vegetables, spices, and herbs with appealing flavors such as Thai Lemongrass, Vietnamese pho, and Tomato Basil.
Others use decaffeinated tea combined with spices and herbs to produce hot Carrot Curry, Fennel Spice, Beet Cabbage, Broccoli Cilantro, Tomato Mint, and Spinach Chive flavored beverages. Many are organic and plant-based.
- Bone broth: You may be familiar with bone broth, which is popular in modern paleo diets and for eons before that. The beverage is a clarified stock containing valuable nutrients and minerals from simmered bones. Touted as highly restorative, bone broth is now served as a retail beverage.
- Indian salted lassi: Typically sweet or fruity, lassi is a cold yogurt-based drink comprising yogurt and water blended with spices and fruit such as mangoes or strawberries. In contrast, salted lassi combines yogurt with water and salt. Seasoning options include ginger, coriander, cumin, or even chilies. The savory beverage is perfect paired with smoky tandoor and spicy curry dishes.
- Beet Kvass: A traditional Eastern European tonic, Beet Kvass is red, salty, and earthy. It’s created from lacto-fermenting beets. The beverage is probiotic-rich, yielding similar health benefits to familiar Western fermented options such as milk kefir and kombucha.
- Bottled gazpacho: You’re right – this innovation is a drinkable version of the iconic chilled Spanish soup. Gazpacho consists of blended vegetables, usually tomato, bell pepper, garlic, onion, and cucumber, mixed and seasoned with water, vinegar, olive oil, and salt.
- British Bovril: Most of us have heard of the iconic British product Bovril, a beef extract with yeast usually added to hot water as a warming, nourishing drink. In Asia, Singaporeans and Malaysians have traditionally used beef extract to stir into rice, porridge, or coffee.
However, most of these suggestions sound European or Asian. How do US manufacturers keen to develop their savory beverage creations get hold of food-equivalent flavors? Do they need to be imported? Happily not. A 100% natural, green, and EU- and USDA-certified flavor and odor ingredient solution from Advanced Biotech is available in New Jersey.
Source Superior Savory Flavorings and Distillates That Blend Well with Liquids
Advanced Biotech produces a “chef’s kitchen” of sensory savory cocktail and beverage profile possibilities. Our collection reflects a range of liquid-efficient taste and aroma ingredients to support your savory beverage research and development. These include pure, often plant-based, organic distillates, pyrazines, aromatics, and other sustainably sourced extracts. Trust us with your new portfolio – contact us today for more information.