Today I’m teaming up with Tea Forté for a delicious giveaway I know you’ll love! Details are at the bottom of the post!
I’m a big fan of having rituals to help us feeling grounded in our day to day life. I love talking about morning rituals, but having an evening ritual is just as important to help us wind down for the day by signaling to our brain and body that it’s time to power down for sleep. A cup of tea makes a wonderful evening ritual. There’s something about sipping a delicious tea after dinner that’s so soothing and calming. I love to enjoy a cup as I do my nighttime journal check-in.
For my clients who struggle with post-dinner snacking, enjoying a cup of tea is something I often recommend to help signal to the brain that they’re done eating and ready to wind down. There’s also such a wide world of teas to explore, it’s a great opportunity to try new things and expand your palette.
When I went to Boston a few months ago for the Westin Copley Place experience, we visited the Tea Forté shop on Newbury Street. It was such a fun experience I couldn’t wait to share with my readers and coaching clients.
For this post, I spoke with Tea Forté’s Piotr Miga, who has two titles: “Quality Assurance Manager” and “Master Tea Blender.” As of the writing of this post, he’s also in the process of becoming a tea sommelier—yes, that’s a thing, and it’s really cool! Here, he answers my questions about how tea can be an enjoyable part of your wellness routine and what to look for.
Jess: How can tea be part of a healthy evening ritual?
Piotr: For me, in the evening, I would prefer something that is not overly caffeinated—for obvious reasons—so I would be radiating towards herbal tea or a white or green tea. They’re the least processed and have a relatively low caffeine content. Another option would be tea over ice…If you have a party…you could even mix those with alcohol as well.
Jess: Why are quality ingredients important in tea?
Piotr: [Some of the main things] that make people come back to a tea after drinking it are taste…and the quality of the ingredients. Here are a few things to consider:
-
- Is the tea organic? Tea Forté is working towards making all of their teas organic, possibly even by the end of 2018. We are almost there.
- Grades of tea—Many characteristics related to where it’s being grown, to the leaf size, to the period during which is was plucked, and the region. Different countries have different grading systems.
- Fair trade, Kosher, Halal, and [other concerns]
Jess: What should someone look for when purchasing a tea to enjoy at night?
Piotr: Look for something low in caffeine—unless you’re a party person! [I love]Tea Forté’s Dolce Vita collection of teas—organic teas with natural ingredients and only natural flavors like herbs, fruits, and botanicals. The whole idea behind this tea is to satisfy the sweet tooth without adding sugar. We also have a [spice-oriented] chai collection…that consists of three herbal teas and two black teas.
Jess: What are your favorite teas?
Piotr: I’m biased, but Hanami would be number one, which is representing the Japanese Cherry Blossom festival. It’s high premium green tea with cherry and rose petals—all natural ingredients. It’s been doing very well. I love the way it tastes. Others are matcha (a good alternative to coffee because of its higher caffeine content)…we have pure and some flavored ones. Our chocolate matcha has cocoa powder in it and our coconut matcha has coconut in it, not just artificial flavoring. We also have the BLEU collection…we use butterfly pea flower, which, when it’s mixed with other ingredients, depending on the pH of those other ingredients, changes colors from blue to red to yellow to pink to hot pink. There are actually no added flavors in that collection—it’s just fruits and botanicals. Some of the teas in that collection are BLEU Hibiscus, BLEU Blush, BLEU Mint, and BLEU Ginger.
Jess: For someone who’s just starting to drink tea, which ones should they start with?
Piotr: The two most famous, most popular teas in the world are Earl Grey and jasmine green. I would probably point them towards that direction because they’re popular for a reason!
Giveaway Time! One lucky winner will receive one Tea Forté herbal assortment Tea Chest (Value $60)
There are several ways to enter !
Leave a comment below telling me what your favorite tea is
Follow Jessica Cording Nutrition on Facebook and/or Twitter
I’ll announce the winner next next Thursday.
This post was inspired by a trip sponsored by the Westin Copley Place. Tea Forté is providing product for this giveaway but I was not compensated for my time.