I recently had the chance to try out samples of the new Tetley Ayurvedic teas. Siince not everyone wants to go to DavidsTea or other teas not available in the grocery store, I thought I would take a break from loose leaf to review some more widely available teas. I tried out Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Cool, Poise and Vigour. All of these teas come in round tea bag format and I opened up a tea bag to have a look at the tea inside. As with most tea bag teas, it is finer than you would find in loose leaf.
The teas are all natural with no artificial ingredients or flavours added, kosher, caffeine free, zero calories and all ingredients are approved by an Ayurvedic practitioner. Not sure what an Ayurvedic practitioner is? I wasn’t either but Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest holistic healing systems. It is a very old Indian based belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit, so the teas are meant to balance everything.
Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Cool-Pitta
Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Cool-Pitta is a cooling tea with natural ingredients to calm you down when you feel overheated. It has a cooling blend of mints with a sublte lemon twist and a floral finish.
Ingredients: Peppermint, Hibiscus, Spearmint, lemon balm, Coriander, lavender
Brewing instructions: Pour boiling water over the bag and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve clear or with milk.
Unless it is a chocolate mint tea, milk and peppermint do not mix in my opinion so I tried this straight and it was my favourite of the three samples. In general, I would prefer mint compared to the ingredients in Poise and Vigour, so this is probably not an indication of it being a better tea than the others. Cool-Pitta smells mintier than it actually tastes and there is some tartness from the hibiscus so I recommend steeping on the lower end of the recommended time. I was surprised that you could taste the floral undertone as mint usually wins out in a tea.
As far as cooling and calming, I find mint to be cooling in general, and I tried this while taking an hour off to read so was calmed in general but it could be more to do with taking an hour out of my hectic day to relax with a tea, book and a kitty curled up beside me.
Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Poise-Vata
Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Poise-Vata is a calming tea with natural ingredients to help you focus when you are feeling scattered or worried. It includes a rich and complex blend of ingredients with a warming length of spicy cinnamon ending in refreshing zesty orange.
Ingredients: Cinnamon bark, Camomile, Fennel, Tulsi, Licorice root, Orange peels, Cardamom
Brewing instructions: Pour boiling water over the bag and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve clear or with milk.
I will admit that while I do drink the occasional cup of chamomile tea for the calming/sleep benefits I was not expecting to like this. I am not the hugest fan of chamomile or cinnamon, so mixing them for me will generally mean I do not even finish the cup. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Poise-Vata. None of the ingredients really overpower each other although it is more camomile than cinnamon and I loved the orange aftertaste. It did seem to have a calming effect but I am usually quite focused on what I am doing so not sure how much it helped there, especially with only one cup.
Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Vigour-Kapha
Another tea with mint, not surprising since it is well known to help the body. Tetley Ayurvedic Balance in Vigour-Kapha is an invigorating tea with natural ingredients to stimulate you when feeling sluggish. It includes an invigorating and heating gingery blend of ingredients with a hint of tingly mint.
Ingredients: Ginger root, Tulsi, Peppermint, Spearmint, Cloves, Turmeric, Cumin
Brewing instructions: Pour boiling water over the bag and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve clear or with milk.
Tetley’s Ayurvedic Balance in Vigour-Kapha would be great on a cold day. The ginger is slightly warming while the peppermint helps clear your head and cools down the warming ingredients – definitely the balance that Tetley were going for with an Ayurvedic tea. The ginger and mint definitely dominate the flavours but you can tell there is something else in there, but it is a nice mix of flavours complimenting the ginger and mint.
Full details on Tetley Ayurvedic Balance teas can be found here. They were recently on sale at my local Metro store at two packs for $7 so I am going to guess that they regularly retail for $3.99 for a pack of 20 tea bags.