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About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 3rd, '09, 19:26
by Hector Rosario
Hello dear community

I recently was introduced to the world of Tea. I'm growing Camellia Sinensis and Rhubarb on my home garden, and I read that the Rhubarb has poison on the leafs.

I wanted to make my own blend using the green tea leafs and the rhubarb ones, now I ask if anyone knows what part of the rhubarb I should use to flavor and store my home made tea.?

Would anyone share some light into this?

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 3rd, '09, 23:15
by Victoria
The flavor of rhubarb comes from the stalks.

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 4th, '09, 12:36
by Zanaspus
Do not! repeat do not use rhubarb leaves. This is the poison bit.

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 4th, '09, 18:41
by Hector Rosario
Thank you, you guys might have saved my life!!

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 4th, '09, 18:44
by Chip
... cough cough ... too late .... cough cough ... for me ... cough ... wheeeeze ...

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 7th, '09, 23:50
by sneakers
Catch him before he falls over the teapot and spills the tea! Such an inconvenient place to die!

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 8th, '09, 00:01
by sneakers
One fewer tea drinker more or less... :lol:

What do the stalks taste like? If Victoria says "rhubarb," I'm leaving. Would this be a good choice as a tea additive? And, Hector, you know how to process the tea leaves ? Lucky you! Where do you live?

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 15th, '09, 21:10
by AlexZorach
I regularly ate rhubarb while growing up...usually in strawberry rhubarb pie but also in some other pies; we'd grow it ourselves--it's very easy to grow. The leaves are poisonous but not terribly so (Wikipedia cites an article saying it would take 5kg to kill, even if consuming unusually toxic leaves). The root you also should not eat, although I think it can be used for medicinal purposes. Rhubarb itself has questionable chemicals in it so I would not recommend making it a staple of your diet!

Rhubarb stalks are very tangy and have a peculiar aroma that isn't really like anything else, but is perhaps vaguely fruity, in a bitter, aromatic sort of way...which is why they make a good addition to pie. Rhubarb cuts/contrasts with sweet flavors very well.

Rhubarb is a really strong and sour flavor, and usually is not good on its own...you need to blend it with something else and even then, you don't want to put too much of it in. Generally, rhubarb without sugar tastes pretty bad...I don't like putting sugar or honey in tea but I'd probably be tempted to if I tried a rhubarb tea.

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Oct 15th, '09, 21:26
by Intuit
Sure, quite a few of us have had rhubarb pies and even had it cooked as a vegetable.

I'm with Sneakers here.. beyond me why anyone would want to use it to flavor tea, it has such high acidity. There must be a medicinal reasons for it's use in tea.

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Mar 13th, '10, 21:39
by freddy
I happen to love rhubarb and when I saw that Adagio sold a rhubarb green tea, I decided to take a chance. I think it is very good and have even enjoyed it with no sweetener added. Rhubarb anything seems to be a love it/hate it proposition.

Re: About Rhubarb

Posted: Mar 13th, '10, 21:45
by Victoria
Interesting. I don't care for flavored tea as a general rule, but I love rhubarb enough to get a sample. Even if I end up using it for iced tea.