Survival Sunday - Chamomile Comparison

In Which I Am Trying New(ish) Things!

If you've ever met me in real life, you'll know that I have long disdained the "dirty leaf water" that so many use as a way of avoiding the black, bitter goodness of coffee or the sweet, sultry invitation of cocoa. That has been changing recently. My love of what my partner lovingly calls my "Morning Gruel" - my two-to-three parts cocoa to one part instant coffee - has not been kind to my waistline, and with COVID still in full swing and opportunities to move around outside dwindling due to a concern for lung health and the slow creep of chill into the air, occasional 70℉ (21.1℃) day notwithstanding, I haven't had anywhere near enough exercise to offset my caloric intake.

In short, I'm getting fatter, and I need to not, and my favorite comfort beverage is partly to blame.

So I have begun forcing myself to imbibe tea instead of mocha.

Except that I really, really didn't like the Red Rose my grandmother favors, so I've been starting small with herbal teas. The only herbal tea we have that isn't also a spice/dessert tea is... Chamomile. Specifically we have four varieties, but one is also slightly medicinal, so I'm leaving that for nights when my sinuses are inflamed (and those nights are coming soon, I'm sure).

So here I am, forcing myself to sip hot flower-water, and something remarkable starts to happen.

I start to lose my disgust.

The first cup of tea gave me a legitimate "bleh" reaction. I grimaced, furrowed my brows, and forced myself to power through - my heated hydration breaks count on this experiment, after all! And after a couple of cups of Sleepytime, I went from "bleh" to simply... "meh". I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. A neutral reaction. Progress!

And then it happened. I ran out of Stash and was beginning to run out of Sleepytime, so I hunted for anything else we had and came across some ancient Bigelow "Cozy Chamomile", the only ingredient of which was the flower itself. I brewed it up and....

Huh.

I liked it.

I tried the other teas (found a Stash chamomile in the back of the cupboard!) and... same reaction. I finally broke my tastebuds and bent them to my will! I enjoyed tea!!!

I should mention, though, that all of these teas were brewed in a cup without squeezing the teabag, so your mileage may vary on your flavor detection!

So without further ado, here are my subjective reviews of the three chamomile teas we currently have in our cupboard!

Celestial Seasonings "Sleepytime Herbal Tea"

This herbal tea has Chamomile as its main ingredient, but it also contains "Chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn and rosebuds." And I have to say... I didn't really taste any of it. Even at a full 5 minute steep, it mostly just kinda tastes like faintly minty grass, and that was exactly what I needed when I couldn't sleep a wink. It's probably my least favorite of the three, but I almost certainly won't turn down a cup if offered.

Stash "Chamomile Nights" Tea

This tea contains Chamomile with spearmint and natural lotus flavor, and yeah, I can absolutely taste the lotus and feel the minty coolness after the fact. The lotus gives an odd but not unpleasant sweetness and definitely "greener" (it's the only description I can give) flavor. It's not quite as soothing as the Sleepytime, but it's a decent late afternoon tea, and I'm pretty bummed we're out. If you've got it and you hand it to me, I'll smile and sip it for an hour.

Bigelow "Cozy Chamomile" tea

This is a single-ingredient tea. You like chamomile? This is for you. That's literally all it is. No mint, no fillers or additives... but apparently if you leave it in a mason jar for years and forget about it until you have a dietary freak out, it takes on... a unique scent.

It straight-up smells like honey. It's not stored next to our honey - it's not even on the same shelf! And they're individually wrapped and stowed in a glass jar! But they smell like honey and grass, and it's a smell that really stimulates my tastebuds, so here we are, with me gulping down mugs and mugs of chamomile tea and enjoying it more and more with every cup.

Now, if you are looking for a tannin-free tea, this is not that tea. While chamomile contains far fewer tannins than your average tea-leaf tea, it still contains some, so don't drink too much of this if you're anemic. Ask a doctor if that's something you should be careful of, since tannins can mess with iron absorption.

In conclusion, I really like the Cozy Chamomile I've been drinking, and all of the other chamomile teas I've tried, and I'm going to start branching out to other teas soon! I'll prepare them all straight like the chamomiles (because again, I'm trying to lower my sugar and dairy intakes,) and try them in a pre-warmed mug at their longest steep time (so they are at peak strength). If you are a regular tea drinker, please do tell me whether or not I should be squeezing the tea bag - I've heard that makes the tea bitter, but I'm not a tea aficionado yet, so I need guidance!

Also, if you have suggestions on what kinds of tea to try next, please do tell me!

And uh... if you wanna send me some tea, hit me up ;)

(You do not have to send me tea!)

I think that'll do it for me, folks :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC