Somewhere in L.A., Whole Foods executives are laughing at all of us.
Last week, $6 bottles of “Asparagus Water” went viral after Whole Foods customer Marielle Wakim Instagrammed a picture of the beverage to her followers.
Whole Foods was quick to shut down the scandal. Senior Media Relations Specialist Liz Burkhart told Eater that the water was only being carried in one store in California and that it “was meant to be water with the essence of vegetables and/or mushrooms to be used as broth.”
She claimed that the product was "made incorrectly" as it was meant to be soaked in water for a long period of time, and that Whole Foods had removed it from the store. We've never heard of asparagus broth. But Martha Stewart is apparently a fan, and her recipe dovetails with Burkhart's instructions (aside from the simmering).
I was still curious as to how asparagus water would taste, though — at least one or two people at that California Whole Foods must have bought it for that purpose, after all. So I decided to make it myself.
I went to my local Whole Foods in New York City's Union Square to see how much the raw ingredients would cost me.
I found the asparagus quickly. Though I only needed three stalks, I got a bundle.
Then I went to get a bottle of water. The Asparagus water was 16 fluid ounces, and the closest size I could find was this Evian bottle of water at 500 ML or 16.9 fluid ounces.
My total was $7.50. Adjusting for the cost of only three of the asparagus stalks, it was roughly $2.35. The mark up isn’t that surprising though — all infused waters are cheaper to make at home.
I wasn’t sure whether or not Whole Foods intended for the asparagus to be cooked, but an employee told Eater that the only preparation involved was cutting the asparagus stalks down to fit them into the bottle of water. I did the same thing.
While I waited for my asparagus to soak and infuse my water, I asked MS, RD, CDN Maria A. Bella, a registered dietitian at Top Balance Nutrition, if there were any health benefits. “ Asparagus is a fantastic source of fiber, but we are getting none of it by drinking the water,” she told Tech Insider. “It is definitely much better to just eat the asparagus.” When I asked her if the amount of time soaking it in water would make a difference, she said no.
After an hour in the fridge, the asparagus water still just tasted like water. I decided to let it sit over night to see how it would taste the next day.
In the morning, I tried it. It tasted exactly how you would expect it to taste — like essence of raw asparagus. It tasted green, grassy, and a little like dirt. I like the taste of asparagus, so it wasn’t necessarily bad, and surprisingly, it didn’t give me malodorous pee. But would I drink it again? Definitely not.
Ultimately, there are no real benefits to drinking asparagus infused water that you couldn’t get by eating asparagus and drinking water on their own. Surprise surprise.
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