I have a special treat for you today – well I think it’s a special treat, anyways – it’s Wild Jujube from Teasenz! Wild Jujube from Teasenz is a fruit tea – an herbal fruit tisane – if you will. China’s most popular herbal tea is made from wild Jujube. Jujubes are sometimes referred to as Chinese Dates and are small, reddish-brown fruits that has the appearance of berries. My first encounter with dried Jujube’s was ordering them from The Raw Food World. So I was very excited to try Wild Jujube from Teasenz.
I have a herbal tea/tisane steeping confession to make. While infusing Wild Jujube from Teasenz I grabbed one of the re-hydrated jujube’s and gnawed on it. It was excellent!
Dry – Wild Jujube from Teasenz – smells like – well – dates! A natural brown sugary type treat with a baked-good feel, too! Once I infused for several minutes the wet liquor left in my cup smelled like fresh-out-of-the-dryer cotton and dates
The taste of Wild Jujube from Teasenz was a gentle cup but still tasty and warming. A more comforting fruity-feel and flavor with a slight nod to something comparable to a date muffin. The end sip is more of a muted berry taste on the tongue. I’m really enjoying Wild Jujube from Teasenz! If you are looking for a fruit based tisane with only one ingredient – try this!!!!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: Teasenz
Description
China’s most popular herbal tea made from wild jujube fruits from Ning Xia. The jujubes are dried while fresh and afterwards cut in slices with an optimal thickness for a perfect & healthy infusion.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pacific Coast Lavender from Winterwoods Tea Company Courtesy of Amoda Tea
Herbal tea can be a great before-bed comfort, especially as the weather gets cooler. Composed of sweet and savory herbs and naturally caffeine-free, it’s hard to go wrong. Usually, my one complaint with herbal tea is that the flavor is mild or too delicate, but wow! Was I proven wrong on this blend! The lavender is so fresh, fragrant, and plentiful– it all but knocked me over when I first got a whiff of the dry leaf. This is a tea with simple but powerful ingredients, each one vibrant and visible in the blend.
The health benefits of these herbs are all the positive usual suspects: lavender and chamomile for relaxation, rose hips for health-boosting vitamin c, and cool, stomach-calming peppermint. When brewed, the lavender definitely takes the spotlight, lighting up my whole room with its warm, floral scent, and filling my senses when I bring my mug up to my face. Beneath all the lavender fragrance, the chamomile and peppermint play well together, producing a mellow, grassy, lemon-mint brew. The rose hips are harder to pick out. Traditionally, rose hips tend to be strong and sour, more like orange or hibiscus, but in this blend they appear only as a little fruity note at the back of each sip.
While I might not be in the mood for this tea every night, it definitely comforted me, reminding me of herbal teas I would drink when I was home sick or staying warm on a snowy day. Not to mention the lavender was out of this world: I have yet to find another lavender tea that can even come close to competing with this one.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Description:
Making this tea your evening ritual through Fall and Winter can be a great way to help naturally boost your mood if you’re experiencing wet grey days. Lavender can calm emotional stress, peppermint can invigorate your mind and chamomile will help soothe.
This tea is no longer on the site but others from Winterwoods Tea Company are here!
Warming from Balcony Teas
Up in the Midwest, we’ve recently swapped from unseasonably warm days to the kind of bone-chilling, rainy autumn weather that makes me want to take up residence under my coziest blanket for the next five months and not move a muscle.
One particular grey and soggy Sunday, I was forced out of my blanket fort and into the world– and let’s be real, I wasn’t too happy about it. Digging through my teas to choose one to take with me (if I had to face the real, soggy world, of course I was going to do it with tea in hand), this cozy, herbal blend from Balcony Tea looked like just what I was searching for.
Warming is a perfectly-spiced herbal with notes of ginger, lemon verbena, lemon balm, orange blossom & peel, and aromatic cinnamon. Right out of the gate, the leaves in the pyramid bag jumped out to me– this may be a pre-bagged tea, but full leaves are visible, along with slices of orange peel and what I suspect might even be little nubs of ginger. The verdict?
It was the perfect blend to warm me up on a chilly day! No sweetener needed, the ginger and lemon is bright and upfront, with a nice herbal balance on the finish to round it out. I truly felt the warmth in my bones as I ventured into the cold. The encroaching winter might not be quite so intolerable with this tea in your mug!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Balcony Teas
Description
Escape long rainy days on our “Warming Balcony” with sun-kissed citrus flavour and a hint of spice.
Ingredients:
Ginger – Spicy and warming; traditionally used to help circulation and ease stomach issues. Lemon Balm – To help you feel relaxed and refreshed. Lemon Verbena – Bursting with lemon flavour. Cinnamon – Naturally sweet and comforting. Orange peel – Beautifully aromatic with a true Mediterranean feel. Orange blossom – Deliciously fragrant with delicate floral honeyed notes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hydrate for AB Herbals (Autumn Bear)
Hydrate from AB Herbals (Autumn Bear) is one of those tisanes that I was drawn to for one very small reason…Chia Seeds! I know it sounds weird but that is the sole reason I was excited to try this blend of herbs! I mean…how many times do you see whole chia seeds in teas/tisanes? Not often. I’m a bit of a chia seed nut! I love the lil guys! They are truly a super food! They aren’t much for taste but I absolutely love what they do! They promote hydration, maintains electrolyte balance, and optimizes body fluids.
Other ingredients in Hydrate from AB Herbals (Autumn Bear) include peppermint, skullcap, and lemon peel.
Did you know…peppermint relaxes the muscles, reduces stress and anxiety, aids digestion by optimizing metabolism, alleviates stomach pain and bloating and detoxifies the Liver. Skullcap relaxes the nervous system, relieves anxiety, reduces muscle tension, soothes feelings of uneasiness, inhibits paranoia. Lemon Peel is an anti-inflammatory that soothes digestion, flushes out toxins and tones the Liver.
But what about the taste of this tisane? Well, it’s a pepped up peppermint that is for sure! Which I LOVE. The lemon peel is a nice addition. The skullcap just gives it a bit more contrasting herb, I think.
Because I LOVE LOVE LOVE any kind of mint and LOVE that this has Chia Seeds in it I have to say it was everything I had hoped for…and more! YUM!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: AB Herbals
Description
A hydrating organic herbal tea designed to replenish fluids, clear the skin, and prevent the wear and tear of environmental and emotional stress.
Drink this blend to balance your Fluids & elevate your Cool!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tranquility from Beleave Teas
Raise your hand if it’s been a tense few months, you guys (not just me? phew, good). I’ve been especially mindful of self care this past week, which of course in my home means a good cuppa. When I saw this tea arrive from fellow sister Nichole (aka CuppaGeek) on a particularly long and icky day, I knew just what I’d be brewing up.
First things first: holy spearmint, batman.
And I’m not mad about it. This tea might be fairly mint-forward, but it’s beautifully balanced by creamy vanilla and herb-y chamomile. I won’t lie– while I was intrigued by much of the rest of the ingredient list (raspberry, papaya, passion flower, star anise, red cherry bark), I’m not picking up on much of them if at all in this blend.
That said, it matters not— this cup is balm for my soul in the days where much-needed tranquility is hard to find. Now if I could only figure out how to get my cup of tea to practice daily meditation *for* me, I’d be good to go. In the meantime, I’ll just keep sipping!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Beleave Teas
Description
This tea looks as lovely as it tastes with ingredients to calm even the most restless soul. Chamomile, rosehips, raspberry, papaya, peppermint, vanilla and star anise just to name a few.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!