Traditional Medicinals Breathe Easy Tea Review

There are a few herbal teas that I use for medicinal purposes that I'm always sure to keep stocked in my tea cupboard, and Traditional Medicinals Breathe Easy Tea is one of them. For years I've been plagued by on-and-off colds and sinus infections, and for a good part of that time I was paying a small fortune for over-the-decongestant pills. I worked in buildings with poor air conditioning, which didn't help matters either, and so sometimes those pills were bought just to make sure I could pass a shift in only moderate suffering instead of high-level suffering. When you're trying to sell people something over the phone, it's best to sound like you're not so stuffed up that you shouldn't even be there.

But then on a whim I bought a box of Breathe Easy tea after seeing it in a grocery store, and immediately upon getting home I made myself a cup.

My first impression was... less than hopeful. When I first unwrapped a bag (each bag is individually sealed inside the box, for freshness), it smelled very strongly of licorice, which I do not like one bit. But if it would help my nose problem, I was willing to gulp it down if I had to.

The steeping time on this tea is longer than you would expect, up to 20 minutes! This may seem like an inordinately long time, but there's a method to the madness. While the tea is steeping in hot water, you inhale the steam, which begins the decongesting process. It starts to clear out the sinuses and open the passages up a little bit.

Still, it didn't smell great.

But when I drank it, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it still tasted strongly on licorice, but it was made more palatable by the presence of mint, which not only eased the taste but also helped to make me feel a little more refreshed. The blend also contained eucalyptus, which is known widely for opening respiratory passages, and also ginger, which is warming and eases upset stomach. It was like every ingredient in this stuff was carefully crafted to treat just about every cold symptom I could get.

And that probably was no accident.

But on to the real meat of this review. Did it work?

The answer is yes, this tea really does clear out sinuses and make it easier to breathe again without needing to keep your face always covered by a tissue. But against over-the-counter decongestant pills, it's hard to tell which is actually more effective. The tea starts working faster but doesn't provide relief for as long, and the pills take longer to work but work longer.

Using it really depends on where I am. If I'm somewhere where I can make tea and stay around long enough to let it steep for 20 minutes and then drink it, I will absolutely take the tea over popping some pills. But if I happen to be outside and away from a conveient kitchen when the congestion really starts to kick in, I'll reach for the pills.

But even though there are times when this tea isn't convenient to take, it has been a blessing to me. A box of Breathe Easy tea is cheaper than a box of decongestant pills that would contain a similar number of "doses". The pills would cost more than double what the tea costs. So from an economic standpoint, it's worth it to buy this tea for your stuffed up nose rather than shell out lots of money for drugstore pills, especially if you're frequently going to be in a place where making and drinking tea won't be a problem.

As for the taste, even though it wasn't as bad as I thought, it still isn't something I particularly enjoy drinking 3 or 4 cups of in a day, but not so bad that I dread having to drink it either. I find the taste improves a good bit with a spoonful or two of sugar. Honey may work too, but I'm not sure how it will affect the taste. Possibly will work to make it better, really. I wouldn't recommend adding milk to this tea at all!

So even though there are problems with this tea, I will still continue to buy it, because above all else it actually works, and works quickly enough to get noticable results!