I feel you. I had the same problem. Fortunately, we have one brand of BJ here in Germany (Grünfink) that tastes drinkable. And when I mix it into our smoothie, the muddy taste disappears. But not to worry, David, Spinach, Aragula, and Celery also have a very high nitrate content. I focused on BR because it has more papers to its name than the others. This is probably because some researchers in the UK have developed a BRJ that has no nitrate in it, and can be used as control in research.