Review: Buddha Teas

Awhile back, Buddha Teas offered to send me some tea for consideration. I have now had many cups of each, nearly finishing the chai, and feel I can give my best reviews of each. I selected Chai, and Third Eye Chakra tea so I could try something very loved and familiar as well as something totally new to me.

The company has a beautiful, easy to use website. They seem to specialize in herbal blends of herbs I have never heard of. Each product page describes the health benefits, if that is something that interests you, and other information about the individual tea. Given how many blends there are and how many seem rather rare, this can come in handy. I can attest that the packaging of each tea is absolutely beautiful, and while still a cardboard box, it is surprisingly sturdy. The teabags are individually wrapped, which is convenient, but unfortunately they are fairly flimsy paper, so the packaging overall does not provide an airtight haven for the tea. This seriously affects shelf life, so I would recommend with any tea packaged like this that the bags be placed in another, airtight container.

Let's start with what is familiar: Chai. I love chai, and make it on the stove and brew up blends almost daily. I own about 5 different kinds most of the time, in various forms in order to consume it at any caffeine level.

This chai is well balanced, but weak. The spices are present, but don't overwhelm the tea. However, in order to make a cup as strong as any chai lover would prefer, two teabags are needed. To make a strong brew in order to stand up to a little milk and sweetener, to prepare in a more traditional way, three are required. Granted, I use a bigger mug, maybe 12 ounces, but I think the bag requires more leaf. This would be good for someone who wants to drink chai lite, so to speak.

What this company seems to specialize in is herbal and chakra teas. I don't really know much of anything about chakras, but that was half of the appeal of selecting this. After reading all of the descriptions of the chakra teas, I picked the Third Eye Chakra, described on the website:

"Known as the ajna, the center of insight and intuition, the third eye chakra is located in the middle of the forehead, above the brow. This chakra is the main point of intuition, focus, knowledge and being able to grasp the larger picture behind circumstances. An imbalance of this chakra may lead to poor decision-making, self-doubt and deceiving oneself. When meditating upon this chakra, the phrase focused upon is “I see”." 

Given my state of general life imbalance, making the right choices and being able to focus on the bigger goals of the upcoming year is absolutely critical. I am not sure how much drinking this tea helps, but I find it to be tasty. It includes Eyebright, Star Anise, Jasmine Flower, Passion Flower, and Spearmint leaf and the lot is apparently infused with sapphire essence. I wasn't sure what that meant (am I drinking rocks?) but thankfully, the website explained that the process meant the herbs basically spent some time hanging out nearby some sapphire. Cool. It tastes very herbal and pleasant, and I have much enjoyed drinking this before bed. 

In sum, I think if I were to order from this company, I would stick to the more unique herbals. There are other companies that do bagged traditional tea at the grocery store that is just as good for a lower price.