Tisanes are what many people will refer to as Herbal Tea. Interestingly, tisanes/herbal teas do not contain any tea (that is leaves from the Camellia Sinensis) but are often referred to as tea anyway. I recently had a drawn out debate with my partner over whether or not you could refer to tisanes as tea! Tisanes are caffeine free infusions typically made from herbs, fruits, spices and other plants. Just like with regular tea you can have pure Tisanes and blended Tisanes.
There are certain health benefits associated with Herbal Teas but they are a lot more difficult to pin down than with Green, Black, White tea, etc (see here) because the range of ingredients used is so vast! For example our Peppermint Tisane has completely different health properties to our Goji and Chrysanthemum. Peppermint is known for aiding with digestion so we recommend drinking it with a heavy meal whereas Goji berries are packed full of anti-oxidants and Chrysanthemum helps you sleep so this is the perfect tisane to drink if you are feeling under the weather.
There is a multitude of Tisanes available on the market – some I think sound appalling Mint Chocolate Chip Honeybush seems to take the whole blending thing a bit far in my opinion (I’ve never tried this tea for all I know it could be delicious!) but there is literally something for everyone!
Here is a list of my favourite things about Tisanes:
- Tisanes are brilliant for cold winter evenings when you need an early night so having a caffeinated drink is out of the question but you need a hot drink in bed to keep you snug. A nice cup of peppermint or lavender tea is the perfect solution to this dilemma! There is something so comforting about a hot drink in bed.
- You can use them to blend your own teas. A few days ago I took some of our Rosebuds and added them to our Imperial Court No1. The result was my own delicious concoction! We don’t focus on blends at LuLin Teas (although our Puerh with Lavender sells really well!) but with the Tisanes we do sell some really great blends can be created. The point here is to experiment with different teas, tisanes and ratios! You can create your own favourite tea!
- They are nice cold! I have to say that I hate cold tea – if I don’t drink my tea with 15-20 minutes of making it – chances are I won’t drink it. Black and Puerh tea needs to be hot in my opinion – Greens, Whites and Oolongs I can palate at a lower temperature (so I can appreciate the flavours more) but never cold! My only exception to this is Tisanes – give me a cold Rosebud tea any day. They are great refreshing drinks during hot summer months.
The best thing to do here is explore drink and enjoy!
Thanks,
Hannah
