Okay, I’m gonna spill the tea — last year, I picked up a new habit and it’s drinking Herbal Tea every night before going to bed. (Sorry, couldn’t resist :D)
So far, I’ve been enjoying it. It’s now become a proper night time routine for me. It’s nice and calming.
Over the course of a year, I got to try a lot of brands and flavors. There’re a few that I like more than the others. I enjoy trying out new flavors.
Thanks to this new habit, I’ve cut down my caffeine intake from 3-4 cups/day to barely 1 cup/day. To me, that’s a major win 🫡 *hehe*
How it started
Leo 🐐 drinks Mate all the time and I wanted to give it a try, just out of curiosity. Knowing this, back in February 2020, right before the pandemic hit, my wife gifted me a Mate Gourd (the cup) and a Mate Bombilla (the metal straw) along with some Mate leaves. I liked the beverage. It was great, but the maintenance of the Bombilla and the Gourd was too much for me.
I enjoyed the drink, but didn’t like the maintenance aspect of it. I didn’t want to drink it in a plastic or stainless steel tumbler either. They just don’t have the right feel and you lose the essence of the whole Mate consumption. Also, look at the Gourd and Bombilla. They look wonderful. Who would want to drink Mate in a different container?!
Herbal Tea 🍵
Mate is not really considered as a herbal tea. But it was the maintenance nightmare that made me try something else that I could drink on a regular basis.
The next best option was Herbal Tea.
I didn’t know which brand or flavor to try and bought 5-6 different kinds to try them all out. To my surprise, I pretty much liked them all. Soon, this evolved into a habit and I started trying out various options available at Whole Foods. Now, I have 4 different flavors of Herbal Teas in my Tea drawer in the kitchen. At any given time in my Tea drawer, I have a safe bet plus a few new flavors to try.
At work, I have access to these –
Depending on my mood, I pick a flavor. Usually, I mix the Chamomile Citrus with Mint Melange. It’s a heavenly combination.
At home, this is what I currently have (as I mentioned earlier, these keep changing) –
The Tulsi Ashwagandha (yellow one in the above pic) has a fantastic fragrance. It’s very relaxing.
Common Herbal Teas
Over the past year and a half, I’ve tried a lot of flavors — so many that I might create a page on my blog to keep track of. For those starting out, I recommend this article for a list of the most healthy ones. The only one I haven’t tried from that list is the Rooibos tea. I haven’t been able to find it at Whole Foods.
These teas have a lot of benefits as presented in that article. I’d like to believe I’ve benefited from these teas. At face value, sure, I’ve replaced my caffeine consumption, but I also think there are more benefits I’ve reaped from these teas. I can’t seem to point them, but I can generally feel the difference.
Getting Started
I think the best way to get started with Herbal Teas is by trying a bunch of ’em. Each to their own taste and you might like a few. So, try them out and see which one sticks.
My favorite ones are –
- Combo: Chamomile Citrus + Mint Melange
- Standalone: Echinacea (sometimes with lemon or elderberry)
If you’ve never tried a Herbal Tea before, give it a try.
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