Looking for Recommendations: Herbal Teas
Hi Everyone!
I’ve recently become sensitive to caffeine and thus need to not drink any caffeine in the evenings anymore. Sad!
Can I get some recommendations of herbal teas WITHOUT rooibos or honeybush in them? Non-caffeine so no Mate either please. I’d appreciate it!
In general, I’d say there are two main types of ‘herbal’ tea:
1. Simpler, full leaf/flower tisanes typically focused on a single plant.
2. Blends of herbs (think ginger, cinnamon, chocolate, blueberry all mixed in a single tisane).
I personally prefer the former. Chamomile is always a classic, but I would recommend checking out a good Chrysanthemum as well, which is very popular in China.
We personally carry two chrysanthemum’s, including a loose wild chrysanthemum. We will also be carrying a bagged chamomile very soon (order placed already). We sampled many varieties, and only focus on the best.
If you prefer the 2nd type, I know that Adagio and DavidsTea have many options that will likely interest you.
Yes, I know Adagio from a while ago, and I’ve never had any DavidsTea except from swaps. I was hoping for some specific blend recommendations. Thanks though! I find chamomile itself to be a little boring on it’s own, personally. I do have some camelia sinesis (sp?) flowers that are dried that I could probably use for a little while that I purchased as an experiment years ago. Most of the problem is that I haven’t bought tea in more than 3 years so I don’t know what’s good anymore. Most of my favourite vendors disappeared…
Hmmm…. unfortunately we don’t do any blends, so I’m not as familiar with them.
If you’re interested in Chrysanthemum, let me know. Otherwise, I’d try contacting Adagio and/or DavidsTea directly and ask them for preferred blends based on your taste profile (fruity, nutty, spicy, etc.). I’m sure they’d be more than happy to help you directly :)
Are you intentionally trying to shame me out of asking Steepsters for help or is that not it?
Not at all! Hopefully some Steepster will come around and be very helpful to you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more help myself.
But, if you’re not finding much luck here, I would try asking some companies directly as an alternative option.
Hey Starfevre,
What kind of taste profiles do you like when it comes to herbal teas/fruit blends? I’m not sure if you live near a DAVIDsTEA or would be interested in ordering online, but some of the best selling herbal blends carried would be these ones:
- Just Peachy
- ME to WE
- Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait
- Magic Potion
And some of my personal favourites are…
- Magic Dragon
- Blueberry Muffin
- Banana Nut Bread
- Mighty Aphrodite
(Also in the interest of disclosure I’m currently employed at DAVIDSTEA)
Some of my other favourite herbals right now from other companies are these ones though:
- Carcadet Fraise Pistache from Dammann Freres
- Cranberry Purifier from Tea Squared
- Honey Fig Tree from Tea Squared
- La Rose Poupre from Camellia Sinensis
- Wintergreen from Camellia Sinensis
- Fair Lady from Bitterleaf Tea
- Waterlilies from Teavivre
Looks like you didn’t even have to ask DavidsTea, they came to you!
Best of luck in your herbalj journey Starfevre.
Roswell Strange! I was so hoping you’d respond here. Non-spicy (no cinnamon or chili flakes or whatever) and none of the ones where the hibiscus overpowers everything, but otherwise I’m game to try pretty much everything. I’ll definitely take a look at your recommendations! Thank you so much!
If we’re ruling out hibiscus heavy blends I think you could probably safely cross off Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait, Cranberry Purifier, and Waterlilies from the list. Also possibly ME to WE, Blueberry Muffin, and Carcadet Fraise Pistache – they’re not as hibiscus heavy, but are somewhat borderline. There’s also hibiscus in Magic Dragon, but personally I feel like it’s a small amount.
I don’t believe any of my other suggestions have hibiscus in them. Midsummer Night’s Dream is another nice, and totally hibiscus free, blend from DT as well :)
Yes I will second David’s Teas for good tisanes. They have a large variety both with and without rooibos. Sadly, Teavana had some very good tisane blends like Strawberry Daqueri.
Republic of Tea has a large selection of herbal concoctions. Though they are not my first stop when I shop, they have some nice blends.
When all else fails, I just go with plain old peppermint.
http://www.republicoftea.com/herbal-tea/c/23/
Edit: I forgot Harney! I trust them and shipping is always free in the US. :)
Hi, I work for Vahdam Teas, a young Indian tea startup. We source our teas and all our ingredients directly from source. I am proud to share our Herbal Tea collection: https://www.vahdamteas.com/collections/herbal-teas
I hope you find them interesting enough as an addition to your tea collection.
I love herbal teas, though I find it seems my tastes seem to clash with just about everyone else (I actually love tart flavor profiles, so I’ll drink that hibiscus right up, hahaha!)
I also love licorice root, which is another one of those things that everyone else I know seems to dislike, so one of my favorite herbal blends is TeaSource’s Margaret’s Soother. Tasty on it’s own, but also an amazing balm for sore throats. It’s a simple blend of peppermint, licorice root, and clove. Very balance with a lovely flavor. (And they have a version with a pu-erh base as well called “Iron Silk” for morning time/caffeine-ok moments which I’ve found handy).
Another of my favorite herbal blends which seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it tea is TeaSource’s Evening in Missoula… for me, it tastes very much of rootbeer with a bit of added minty-ness. I’ve heard others say they just get chamomile, but I’m very chamomile-sensitive (if it’s the primary flavor in a tea I find it very off-putting and can’t get it down) and I don’t even taste the chamomile at all! The cherry bark/wintergreen somehow hits me hard with it so I get a lot of rootbeer notes instead, but it’s super relaxing, one of my favorite nighttime teas!
I’m also a huge lavender fan, and that’s another thing I know lots of people don’t like… I’m that odd person that really loves the florals, hahaha! Not sure how you feel when some sugary-bits are added to a tea, but TeaLyra’s Lemon Lavender Potion is divine! It’s like a creamy lavender lemon poundcake, or lemon cookies with a floral minty edge.
In general, TeaLyra is one of my favorite places for herbal blends. They have quite the variety that I don’t seem to find at a lot of other vendors.
Another somewhat unknown vendor is Nil Organic Tea, and they have herbal and tea versions of all their blends. That does mean some of their herbal alternatives use rooibos (but not all of them do), so they are worth checking out. Any tea listed on their website will have two sets of ingredients, a tea base that is caffeinated, and a caffeine-free alternative. If you aren’t opposed to chocolate at night (it doesn’t have that much caffeine in the cocao powder?), their organic cocao powder teas are great! I think the Chocolate Dipped Berry one tasted like chocolate-covered cherries, but it may not be to your liking because of the hibiscus; the Mint Chocolate Truffle may be more up your alley if you like a choco-mint flavor.
Mountain Rose Herbs and The Loose Leaf specialize in herbal blends, and also have a lot of bulk plain herbs if you are interested in just getting a stash of herbal ingredients and making your own custom herbal blends. I really like the Etsy teashop AmberFreda for herbal health blends, as well; she has really good prices and very fresh teas, and for health herbals, they taste surprisingly good, too!
My favorite herbal lately is Relax & Renew from Soluna Garden Farm:
http://solunagardenfarm.com/shopping.html#!/Relax-and-Renew/p/4436007/category=5661449
It’s a chamomile blend, also containing rosemary, lavender, spearmint, and cloves. Calms me down for bed on super stressy days really well.
Midsummer Night’s Dream(David’s Tea)
Forever Nuts(David’s Tea)
Bear Trap(David’s Tea) -Iced
Magic Dragon(David’s Tea)-Iced
The Glow(David’s Tea)
Dandy Blend(Goosefoot Acres is sold on Amazon)
Spearmint(Traditional Medicinal’s or any brand/homemade)
If you like medicinal tasting teas Nettle Tea is one of my favorites but is usually a love or hate tea.
Licorice Spice(Stash Tea)
Fresh Chamomile Bud tea
Hello Starfevre, herbal is good tea for health. The most important that’s caffeine free. For herbal tea, such as Jiaogulan, Kuding and Chrysanthemum tea are great.
https://www.jkteashop.com/tea-herbal-tea_c11.html
I really enjoy Lupicia’s Jarden de savauge, Damman Freres Rooibos Pecan Pie, and David’s Teas Forever nuts, Coco chai rooibos, magic dragon, and Alpine punch. Definitly check out Lupicia, they have some great fruity teas that aren’t hibiscus sour.
A few recommendations from our herbal tea selection:
Jiaogulan: https://www.teasenz.com/jiaogulan-gynostemma-pentaphyllum-tea
Soba tea: https://www.teasenz.com/tartary-buckwheat-tea
Chrysanthemum buds: https://www.teasenz.com/chrysanthemum-flower-tea
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