Teas(or actually tisanes) that will definitely make you sleep?
I’d like a recommendation on the best herbal teas that will make you sleep. I’ve heard a lot about chamomile teas and their benefits, but I’d like to know about your experiences with them or any other teas that helped you sleep.
Chamomile knocks me right out – so much so that if I see a blend has it, I won’t drink it unless it’s near bed time. I also find rooibos soothing. Another is malva (mallow). My grandfather used to drink it in Italy when he was a boy – back when he was alive he bought some and we all tried it – my entire family spent the afternoon sleeping!!!
Valerian is a great magic ingredient for sleep; I take mine in capsule form, but the bottle says you can open the capsules and steep like a tea.
“Get some ZZZZs” by Republic of Tea has valerian in it. It definitely makes me drowsy. Tastes much better and works better for me than “Sleepytime” (Celestial Seasonings), although I think they CS has reblended that one to include Valerian as well.
http://steepster.com/teas/the-republic-of-tea/5346-get-some-zzzs-no-5-wellness-collection
The capsules have kind of a funky aftertaste which is largely the reason I haven’t tried as a tisane … may well be that the other stuff in CS and ROT covers that up. Sleepytime EXTRA does have valerian:
http://www.celestialseasonings.com/products/detail.html/wellness-teas/sleepytime-extra
The Sleepytime “Extra” does contain valerian. It is listed under “Wellness Blends.”
The regular Sleepytime does not contain valerian. It is listed under herbals.
I have taken valerian in tincture form and that knocks me out too!!! I don’t think I’d like it in a tea; it has a terrible smell.
I agree that plain valerian has a horrid smell, but the Sleepytime Extra does not have that smell and is actually pretty good for a bagged tea.
New Mexico Tea Co. Extra Sleepy Bear tea has Valerian Root and Hops…it definitely puts me to sleep….it also has chamomille and other herbs. If you don’t want the Valerian then try the Starlight Sleep…which is almost the same minus one or two ingredients. If you like to swap I’ve got both of them:)
I’m on a search for a melatonin tea.
Puritan’s Pride has a melationin blend as well as a Valerian tea. I copied the link to the general tea category because they have 62 teas so I thought someone may be interested in the others.
Have you tried melatonin capsules? I’ve personally found that melatonin doesn’t help me at all. I’ve had chronic insomnia my whole life and the only thing that has ever helped (when it comes to medicine) is Ambien. Unfortunately, it’s addictive and can’t be taken over long periods of time. All the herbal stuff I’ve tried just doesn’t work for me, but everybody’s different. And not everybody has chronic insomnia like I do.
Yep. But I take way too many pills as it is and would MUCH rather drink a tisane. As long as it doesn’t taste as bad as chamomile- I tried that too.
In the last few years I have stopped being caffeine sensitive (I know, weird eh?). So much so that I can have an espresso and go straight to bed. My wife is the polar opposite.
We sell a blend called ‘Counting Sheep’ at our retail store that our customers swear by. In fact I had one woman come in last week and buy out our whole stock. She said she suffered from panic attacks at night and has tried numerous medications and decided to give herbal tea a shot. I’m guessing it worked since she was waiting for me before I even showed up to open shop!
The score:
herbs 1 prescription meds 0
=)
Interested in hearing more about this one. Do you have a link or ingredient description?
Hi,
It’s a simple blend of jasmine, chamomile, lavender, and hops. Sometimes we add in some lemon balm or passion flower (aka the ‘herb of tranquility’) at our shop if customers want some.
It is not a tisane, but it does have L-theanine in it so I thought I’d post it as an option. Since L-theanine is a relaxing agent, maybe just drink a cup of decaf true tea? Although I’m leary about whether the good things in true tea stay when the caffeine is extracted.
Harney & Sons: Egyptian Chamomile here: http://tinyurl.com/y2texjm . I never knew I was so susceptible to chamomile like the way this tea affects me. I think I am 4 out of 4 with this tea – taken right before bedtime, 3 hours later, I am deeply, undreamingly sleeping for about 4-5 straight hours. As an (habitual) insomniac (who only sleeps in stretches of 2 hours or so), I never would have believed it possible. It’s scary.
I swear by “Sleepy Tea” which is a mix by my local tea store — I know there’s chamomile in it, but it’s not just chamomile. There’s also some sage and verveine in the mix, as well as some blue flowers. I have no idea what the blue flowers are, but maybe they’re just lavender?
Anyway, the mix smells great, tastes great and definitely helps me to fall asleep. I think a chamomile/verveine mix would be relatively easy to make at home.
California Tea House has a “Bedtime Chai”. It tastes fantastic and makes me sleepy right away.
http://www.californiateahouse.com/Tea-Blends/Bedtime-Chai-II/product.tpl.html
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