If you like to take your tea with a touch of sweetness, honey is a great option. Our friends at Blossom Trail Honey have some of the  best honey that California has to offer!

Their pure raw honey comes straight from the comb and is never heated or pasteurized; it’s honey the way nature intended.

Their selections vary depending on the season and the amount of honey that is extracted. Free-range placement and working closely with the farmers to ensure that the hives remain healthy are some of the reasons why Blossom Trail honey is superior in quality and taste. (more…)

from Lifehacker by Adam Pash

A Home-Brewed Cup of Tea Has 20 Times the Healthy Stuff of Most Bottled Teas

If you turn to tea for a healthy dose of antioxidants, keep in mind that the antioxidants, or polyphenols, found in commercially bottled tea is up to 20 times less than you’ll find in home-brewed tea.

Photo by Shandi-lee Cox.

Research presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society points out:

“Consumers understand very well the concept of the health benefits from drinking tea or consuming other tea products,” said Shiming Li, Ph.D., who reported on the new study with Professor Chi-Tang Ho and his colleagues. “However, there is a huge gap between the perception that tea consumption is healthy and the actual amount of the healthful nutrients – polyphenols – found in bottled tea beverages. Our analysis of tea beverages found that the polyphenol content is extremely low.” (more…)

Sure, you love Camomile and Mint, but are they actually teas? Join us as Dr. Tea explains the differences between Teas and Tisanes: Camomile, Mint, and Rooibos. Each has their own benefit as an Herbal Tisane.

DigestTea Cilantro Spearmint Papaya

Matricaria recutita or German chamomile, also spelled camomile, is an annual plant of the composite family Asteraceae. Synonyms are: Chamomilla chamomilla, Chamomilla recutita (correct name according to the Flora Europaea), Matricaria chamomilla, and Matricaria suaveolens.

Chamomile is used medicinally to treat sore stomach, irritable bowel syndrome, and as a gentle sleep aid. It is also used as a mild laxative and is anti-inflammatory and bactericidal. For a sore stomach, some recommend taking a cup every morning without food for two to three months. It is also used as a mouthwash against oral mucositis. It has acaricidal properties against certain mites, such as Psoroptes cuniculi. (more…)

Milk thistles are thistles of the genus Silybum Adans., flowering plants of the daisy family (Asteraceae). They are native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The name “milk thistle” derives from two features of the leaves: they are mottled with splashes of white and they contain a milky sap. However, it is the seeds of milk thistle that herbalists have used for 2000 years to treat chronic liver disease and protect the liver against toxins. (more…)

From [ACS via Consumerist]

This research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society

BOSTON, August 22, 2010 — The first measurements of healthful antioxidant levels in commercial bottled tea beverages has concluded that health-conscious consumers may not be getting what they pay for: healthful doses of those antioxidants, or “poylphenols,” that may ward off a range of diseases. (more…)

Equisetum arvense, commonly known as the Field Horsetail or Common Horsetail. Horsetail is the sole descendant of the giant fern like plants that covered the earth some 200 million years ago. The herbs creeping rhizome sends up hollow, jointed, virtually leafless, bamboo like stalks that reach 6 feet. At the ends of the stalks, spore-bearing structures (catkins) develop which resemble horsetails, corncobs, or bottle brushes, hence some of the herb’s names. (more…)