Algonquin Tea Product Review

Algonquin Tea is a brand I discovered on the shelves of a local farmer's market that, alas, no longer exists. The market, I mean. The tea company is still going strong.

Which, as far as I'm concerned, is a great thing, since I really love their products. Since the first time I bought a box of their tea, I've been hooked.

Algonquin Tea is a small tea company based in Canada. Their ingredients are wildcrafted in a sustainable fashion, which means that by buying theit teas, you can rest assured that you're not supporting a company that doesn't give a hoot about the environment. These people seem to care about the quality of the herbs they harvest, and don't look at plants solely as things that can make a profit.

Each of their six blends contain herbs that are traditionally used by natives of the area for various health benefits, something which I've looked into and taken advantage of. The fact that these herbs are so easily available through Algonquin Tea is just a bonus for me!

The only downside to this company is that their teas are hard to find in stores unless they specialize in such things. You can order from their site, of course, and the prices are reasonable, but they have a minimum order requirement of at least 6 boxes. So while $6 for a box of herbal tea may seem great, just remember that you actually have to shell out at least $36 per order.

If you're lucky enough to have a store in your area that carries this tea, though, you can always just buy individual boxes there, but their unit prices are likely to be higher. It's a toss-up. If you only want one box, then buy individual. If you think you're going to end up drinking a lot of tea from this company, then it's definitely worth getting the money together to make an order from the site itself.

Their Sweetfern Tonic is rather nice with honey and milk, and contains quite a few herbs that are known as immune boosters and system cleansers, buch as red clover, echinacea, and burdock root. I've found that it's especially nice to have around when suffering the effects of a bout of cold or flu, not just for the herbal content but for the comforting taste and smell. Some of the herbs including in this are reputed to purify the blod and strengthen kidney function, but if you've got impaired kidney function, you might want to check with a doctor before drinking any herbal tea for health benefits, not just this one.

Sacred Blend is used quite often at my place, as not only are the herbs in it good for reducing fevers and aiding with decongestion, but they also seem to work wonders on the symptons or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Maybe it's the anti-inflammatory properties of the white pine needles, sage, and sweetgrass, but whenever the tightness and pain of an IBS attack comes on either myself or my roommate, a cup of this tea eases the symptoms, sometimes eliminating them entirely! It's one tea I make sure to keep around, and is the main reason I started ordering tea from Algonquin in the first place.

Keep your cats away from this one! Peace Tea contains catnip, which, while it has a stimulating effect on cats, has the opposite effect on humans, calming the nerves and soothing the mind. Combined with St. John's Wort, lemon balm, hops, vervain, and valerian, this tea really lives up to its name, making it a good thing to drink before bed. Milk doesn't go very well in this, but it does benefit from a little bit of some kind of sweetener, I've found.

The Homestead Blend is another good one to drink when you feel yourself getting sick, especially with illnesses that tend to hit the lungs. The red clover in it has long been used to treat things like asthma and bronchitis. The raspberry leaves also work well to calm menstrual cramps and to balance hormones, and with the other herbs in this blend, it tastes a bit more palatable than just straight raspberry leaf tea.

The Awake Tea could well be called the Jack-of-all-Trades tea, since this blend seems to have a little bit of everything designed to keep us going that little bit longer. Mint to soothe an upset stomach, ginseng for the mind and alertness, nettles for circulation, angelica for energy... The list goes on. But in spite of the interesting and varied blend, this tea actually comes across as being rather light, which I suppose plays well to the refreshing nature of the herbs themselves.

While I haven't had any prophetic or psychic dreams after taking Lucid Dream Tea, I have to attest to the calming nature of this single-herb tea. While a lot of calming blends will leave you with a heavy sort of sleepy feeling, Lucid Dream tea doesn't, but instead just leaves a person feeling, well, untroubled. It's wonderfully subtle, but well-appreciated. The sweet gale is also effective against fevers and stomach problems, making it something to be taken for reasons other than connecting with the worlds beyond.

I have tried each and every one of these teas, and I can say that they all have beneficial health properties as well as a good taste. These are wonderful teas to have around if you're interested in natural and herbal remedies, and the fact that the herbs are harvested sustainably is a huge bonus, so far as I'm concerned.