My Seven Favorite Hot Teas

 

My Seven Favorite Hot Teas. I’ve been a huge iced tea drinker for pretty much my entire life – My Nana lives in Texas and I learned from her that sweet tea is a daily part of life for many. Fortunately she taught me the benefits of drinking tea without sugar. I drink my tea – plain like she does during the summertime. :) So refreshing! I also love the Passion Fruit Iced Tea from Starbucks, but I always get it with no sweetener as well.

I didn’t become a huge fan of hot tea until my sophomore year of college – one of my roommates loved it so much she claimed that it helped her contain her eating habits and made her feel not as hungry. I was so impressed I figured I should give it a try.

Now, I probably have around 25 teas in a cabinet at my apartment at any given time.. and it’s starting to overflow. I drink tea often and love to  circulate through them. I have so many boxes/tins! (Oops.. sorry Zach!) I have found that it has definitely helped me not feel as hungry as well throughout the day, and the taste refreshes me. AS a result I now kick off my day, and end my day with a cup of hot tea. (Not every morning, but often) I used to drink coffee more, but tea seems so much “lighter” it keeps me feeling fresh.

Today I thought I would share 7 of my favorite teas with you along with the reasons why I love each. Some are more expensive than others, others have been given to me as gifts. I shared my tea cabinet with those of you who follow me on Instagram, and so many of you felt the same way that I do about tea so I thought it important to share more about what teas I’m currently loving.

 

If you would like to follow me on Instagram to see what I’m eating, follow along on my weight-loss journey, workouts regiment, and more – click here!

 

Photo from Thirsty For Tea

 

1. Nina’s Thé De Marie Antoinette 

I’ll start with this one because of the beauty behind the packaging – the tin is absolutely gorgeous. Many people buy tea based on the packaging alone.. I tend to be that person. ;) With this tea, it was given to my Mom from her friend, Georgianna Lane! She is such a talented photographer and the sweetest person.. my mom is so sweet she shared some of it with me.

I was so excited because the scent of the tea filled me with happiness. It’s a Black Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka mixed with rose petals, and natural rose & apple flavors. The apples that flavor the tea are actually from the King’s Kitchen Garden in Versailles. When I drink the tea, I get more of a tart apple taste than a rose-like taste, but it is so delicious and refreshing. It’s one of those glamorous teas, that I will buy again and again!

Click here to purchase your own.

2. Bigelow Green Tea with Lemon 

Green tea is an everyday staple for me. Not only does it have so many health benefits, but it’s also delicious.

Green Tea has been proven to increase fat burning and boost metabolism along with providing powerful antioxidants that protect against cancer. There are so many studies more on the benefits of drinking green tea. Definitely take the time to google more about this popular tea to learn more.

I like this brand because it also has a light lemon flavor as well, which I happen to love.

Click here to purchase.

3. Tazo Passion Tea 

Honestly I’ve had a love affair with this tea for years. It’s a take on the Teavana Passion Fruit Tea drink at Starbucks, yet it’s at home! It has no-caffeine, so it’s the perfect tea to drink before bed, or if you don’t like caffeine.

It’s an herbal tea and has lots of ingredients like hibiscus flowers, licorice, cinnamon, and rose hips. I love it because it’s a strong taste but yet can cool off and still taste delicious.

Click here to purchase.

4. Teavana Mint Majesty 

Ahhh. RIP Teavana. It’s honestly sad because I LOVED some of their teas and my boyfriend bought me many gifted teas from this company over the years. I used to work at a mall a few years ago, and basically lived off of their iced tea that I would run to get during my breaks.

For Christmas, Zach bought me a 4 pack of “mint related” teas in cute packaging. One of the teas, was Mint Majesty – and now I’m sort of obsessed. Then the stores began closing and Teavana was officially closed, and I had no way to get my new favorite tea!

But then I found an amazing dupe which tastes pretty much the same. So yay! It’s from a website called Adagio Teas, and they boast about their “Majestic Mint” tea being the dupe for Mint Majesty. Lol.

This is also a nighttime tea – no caffeine, and very relaxing. It’s a very simple blend with just 3 ingredients: peppermint, spearmint, and lemon verbena. Delicious and puts me right to sleep!

Click here to purchase the dupe.

5. Harney & Sons Paris 

One of my favorites teas of all time (and yours.. so many of you mentioned you loved it after you saw it in my tea cabinet on IG Stories the other day!). Zach bought it for me for my birthday this year and I just fell in love with the luxuriousness of it all.

Each individual tea sachet comes in a little fabric soft bag, instead of the cheaper quality teas found in Tazo or Teavanna packets. It’s a black tea which has a vanilla and caramel flavor, and a hint of lemon Bergamont. The aroma is heavenly and it’s one of those once a week or less type of teas because it feels spoiling.

They have lots of different flavors of teas and they are one of my favorite brands!

Click here to purchase.

6. Chinese Dried Fruit Tea 

This is a super fun story because I went all the way to Beijing for this one! ;) When my family and I went to Beijing in November, all I wanted to do was try some traditional Chinese tea and go to a tea room. We barely ended up having any time but our tour guide managed to bring us to a government sponsored tea room (??) and we had a “traditional tea ceremony”. It felt extremely cool during the moment, but after I came home and researched it a bit more, I found that many of these tea rooms are actually a scam! 

Basically they had us try a few types of teas and told us the benefits of each, and the “ceremony” was free but then they encouraged us to buy tea afterwards. Turns out that the tea was rather expensive, and the women selling us the tea were a bit pushy. We all ended up buying a bunch of tea.. but I was excited to get home and try them all!

The one I loved the most is this Chinese Dried Fruit Tea – which is almost like a dessert/sour flavor that I seriously love. I have it more often than I should because it’s sugary!

I can’t find a reputable source for this one online, but I bet you can find it in local tea shops.

7. Teavana Chamomile Bloom Tea

Ugh! I am still so sad about Teavana closing but this is the last of my favorite teas.

Chamomile is not only delicious, but one of my favorite sleep aids. This specific tea had so many delicious ingredients: chamomile, lemongrass, lemon balm, rose, lavender, blackberry leaves.. and more! It’s a delicious and fruity take on one of my all-time favorite sleepy time teas.

However, many people say to try “Dream On” by DAVIDsTEA as a great sleepy time tea now that Chamomile Bloom is gone forever.

Click here to get the “Dream On” tea.

And there ya go.. my 7 favorite hot teas and some of the reasons why I love them. Let me know if you have any questions!

Are you a tea drinker? What are some of your favorite teas? I would love to try new ones based on your recommendations! 

xo,
Emma