AD | This post features products that have been gifted to me in exchange for a review. All opinions are honest and my own.
Drinking herbal tea is an absolute staple part of my daily routine. There is such a wide variety of great-tasting teas to explore, and I love knowing that they have health benefits as varied as their flavours. There’s a tea for every mood, occasion and time of day, whether you need something stimulating, refreshing or comforting.
This blog post is a sneak peek into my daily tea-drinking routine. I will be sharing my suggestions for the perfect herbal teas to drink at every time of the day from the morning until bedtime. To help me with this, I have a fantastic featured brand on board, The Fine Harvest, which I will introduce to you now.
About The Fine Harvest
The Fine Harvest is a small, family-run business established in 2013 by Andy and Alina. They are passionate about sourcing and producing the highest quality, healthiest and most delicious foods possible. Therefore, everything in their range is carefully selected to fit these criteria. They sell a wide variety of foods and ingredients including oils and dressings, nuts and dried fruits, chocolates and beverages.
As well as their focus on health, taste and quality, Fine Harvest are also eco-conscious and they take sustainability very seriously. They use hybrid, low-emission vehicles and all of their delivery boxes are sustainable and recyclable. They use minimal plastic and operate on a zero-waste target. You can read more about The Fine Harvest’s ethos on their About page.
The Fine Harvest have recently brought out a collection of functional teas and herbal infusions, to complete their range of six luxury teas. These are all 100% plastic-free, eco-friendly and use compostable pyramids. They are called functional teas because they have a range of health benefits for different purposes. I was kindly gifted their new collection of teas and I will be reviewing them throughout this post.
A Herbal Tea for Every Time of Day
In the morning
If you are going to include caffeine in your diet, the morning is the best time to consume it. This is because caffeine can remain in your system for up to 10 hours, so if you consume it later in the day, you could have trouble getting to sleep.
The Fine Harvest’s ‘Flu Fighter’ tea is an excellent choice for the morning because it contains green tea to give you a gentle caffeine boost. As the name suggests, this tea contains ingredients that support your immune system, including echinacea, elderberries and rosehips, all of which are rich in vitamin C. So if you’re feeling at all under the weather, this is the tea you need!
The recommended brew time for this tea is 3-5 minutes. The first time I tried this tea, I forgot about my cup so ended up brewing it for much longer! The second time around I remembered to take my teabag out and the tea was a better strength. This tasted like green tea with a slight fruity tint. This makes sense as the main ingredient is green tea, but I would have liked to be able to taste the other flavours more. At least I know they are there giving me the health benefits.
Before lunch
My recommended tea to drink before lunch is The Fine Harvest’s ‘Golden Glow’ herbal infusion. This warming tea contains ginger, turmeric root and calendula petals, as well as carrot, beet and pineapple pieces. This blend of ingredients was selected for its positive anti-inflammatory effects on your skin, hence the name ‘Golden Glow’.
This infusion can be consumed at any time of day to reap the benefits for your skin. I’ve suggested it for before lunch because the key ingredient, ginger is thought to help prevent acid reflux and heartburn when taken before a meal.
I expected this tea to be a yellow or orange colour due to the ingredients, but in fact, it is a very pretty orangey pink colour. This makes sense because it contains beets which are highly pigmented!
The recommended brew time is 3-5 minutes but I actually left my teabag in because I like my herbal infusions to be strong when they don’t contain actual tea. The flavour of this tea is quite subtle so I feel I made the right decision leaving the teabag in.
The tea has a spiced flavour with ginger being the dominant taste. I really like how I can see recognisable chunks of the ingredients inside the tea pyramid. It shows that they use real, quality ingredients and not just flavourings.
In the afternoon
The afternoon is the perfect time to go for something fruity, such as a berry infusion. Fruit infusions have a slightly sweet flavour so they are a healthy way to satisfy any afternoon cravings for something sweet. They are also usually caffeine free so you won’t risk keeping yourself up at night.
After dinner
After your evening meal, I recommend a tea that contains mint, such as peppermint tea. Peppermint aids your digestion by calming the stomach muscles and improving your production of bile. It also freshens breath, so it’s an especially great option if you’ve been eating something garlicky!
In the evening
In the evening, you’ll want to look for ingredients that have a calming or sedative effect such as chamomile, peppermint and valerian root, to help you wind down before bed. The Fine Harvest’s ‘Evening Lullaby’ herbal infusion contains all three of these ingredients, along with lemongrass, rosehip, hibiscus and more. It is formulated to soothe and calm you, ready for a restful night’s sleep.
The first thing I noticed about this tea is that it smells so nice! It has a sweet and comforting scent. It tastes nice too – I can especially taste the peppermint and chamomile. Again, because this is a herbal infusion I left the teabag in to make it nice and strong. This infusion is definitely calming and will become a staple of mine in the evenings. Because of its calming effects, this tea also makes a great remedy for anxiety.
The Fine Harvest’s packaging
Before I end this post, I want to make a quick mention of the packaging and presentation of the teas I received from The Fine Harvest. As I mentioned earlier, The Fine Harvest takes sustainability seriously, and all of their packaging is recyclable or compostable. The tea pyramids, which are biodegradable themselves, come in a compostable bag fastened by a cute little metal clip. The clips are one of my favourite things about these teas as they are such a cute touch, and genuinely useful. I will be able to reuse them many times for sealing other packaging.
The outer boxes are made of FSC® certified sustainable paperboard which is widely recycled. As for the presentation, I love the colours and design of the boxes. I especially like their logo which is a teacup with leaves swirling out of it. It reflects the fact that there is goodness in every cup!
What are your favourite herbal teas?
I hope you enjoyed reading this post about the ideal herbal teas for different times of the day. Do you have any favourite teas that you like to drink at a particular time? Which tea by The Fine Harvest do you think would be your favourite?
Be sure to check out The Fine Harvest to browse their full range of delicious goodies. As well as teas, they also boast a selection of chocolates, savoury snacks, spreads, and much more. With Christmas approaching, it’s a great brand to keep in mind for your Christmas shopping!
