Herbal Tea for Energy
Today’s all about herbal tea for energy! The practice of mixing herbs with water to produce a beverage predates written history and pervades most cultures. There are many reasons why different herbs are brewed into teas, but one of the most common purposes is for a pick-me-up.
An herbal tea for energy is a classic productivity hack. Today, we’re used to drinking caffeinated beverages for energy.without thinking much of it. But what if there were an herbal tea that paired the functional benefits of caffeine with a more complex herbal combination to create the ultimate herbal tea for energy?
If you’re interested in the best herbs for energy, you’ve come to the right place! In this post we’ll be discussing the functions and benefits of a number of different herbs loved for providing energy.
We’ll cover kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), guayusa (Ilex guayusa), yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), green tea (Camellia sinensis), and gotu kola (Centella asiatica). To finish things off, we’ll discuss why these herbs go together to brew a delicious and uplifting herbal tea.
What Is in an Herbal Tea for Energy
There are many ways that herbs and their phytochemicals (plant molecules) can provide an energizing effect.
Caffeine, for example, blocks adenosine receptors, which interrupts you from recognizing the brain’s natural sleepiness signals.
When it comes to kratom, researchers are still trying to fully understand how kratom provides energy. They’ve identified a variety of different mechanisms related to kratom’s energizing effects, but as we’ll discuss shortly, there’s a lot left to learn.
Quick note: we’re going to focus on the health benefits of each ingredient in our Ashwagandha Kratom tea bags, but none of this should be taken as medical advice. Always consult your doctor if you have questions about specific medical conditions!
Ashwagandha in an Herbal Tea for Energy?
Ashwagandha owes its energizing effect to a hormonal interplay. Normally ashwagandha is seen as a calming herb. It is linked to a reduction of the “stress hormone” cortisol, which may allow for better sleep.
In providing this adaptogenic calming effect, ashwagandha may reduce the brain clutter that distracts you from being productive. Not energizing in the typical sense, it has a restorative effect that can promote an increased sense of concentration.
Withania somnifera, or ashwagandha, has repeatedly been the subject of small scientific studies. Without any large scale, expensive clinical trials, the results of these smaller studies can only give us clues to the potential of this root.
The research so far is very promising – and shows that no singular compound is responsible for the reported effects. As an adaptogen, ashwagandha may increase our general resistance to illness, through a state of nonspecific increased resistance (SNIR).
Kratom for Workouts
Kratom has been used for physical labor and exercise for centuries. Despite its traditional prevalence as an herbal tea for energy, it is seen surprisingly little in modern tea mixes.
Of course, our goal is to change that with our new line of eight different kratom herbal tea blends. And when it comes to energy, there is no better herb to pair another with than kratom!
In Thailand and throughout South East Asia, kratom leaves have been plucked from trees and chewed during the workday before the dawn of written history. This traditional energizer has been brewed as a tea for at least the past few centuries.
Today, however, many kratom consumers have resorted to swallowing the dried powder whole. All three preparations have their utility, but chewing or swallowing the leaf sacrifices taste and pleasure for rapidity. Drinking kratom tea, on the other hand, takes about 20 minutes to prepare. However, the tea results in an overall more pleasant experience.
Given how perfect kratom is as an herbal tea for energy, it has risen to popularity within the bodybuilding community. It is praised for its subtle yet strong push and considered to be one of the top natural pre-workouts available.
Calm Energy
Classically caffeinated herbs like guaysa, yerba mate, and green tea can cause jitteriness, stress, and other unpleasant side effects if consumed in excess. In our herbal blend, we’ve combated this.
First, by reducing the amount of caffeine in the tea, and second, by pairing these herbs with calming ones. As we’ve already mentioned, ashwagandha is good for helping you combating stress, which balances the caffeine stimulation.
Kratom also balances with the caffeine, adding energy but not contributing to the jumpy jitteriness of over caffeination. Combined, these herbs create the best herbal tea for energy!
Gotu Kola and Kratom
In the background of our herbal tea for energy is gotu kola. Known for its prized placement in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), gotu kola leaves are either eaten as a salad or steeped into a tea.
It’s long tenure in TCM makes a strong case for its efficaciousness. Like ashwagandha, gotu kola isn’t known for its energizing effect. But when paired with uplifting herbs, gotu kola may help calm a restless mind and give way to greater productivity overall.
Ashwagandha and gotu kola are the ying to the energizing yang of the “ultimate” herbal tea for energy. If your only familiarity with energizing beverages are pure caffeinated drinks (or even pure kratom beverages), then this symphony of perfectly curated herbs will surprise you with how clean and natural it feels.
Caffeine and Kratom
That’s enough talk about why you should balance the energizing herbs with calming ones. Let’s now focus on the foundation underlying this herbal tea for energy. That is, caffeine and kratom.
A little background about Top Tree Herbs may help elucidate the relationship between caffeine and kratom. As a student at Columbia University, our co-founder Soren was looking for a way to reduce his reliance upon coffee and caffeine pills.
He regularly used them to push through consistently long hours in the library. Familiar with kratom from watching the Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia documentary on kratom, Soren decided to drink a protein shake with a tablespoon of OG Green Bali kratom powder in it.
Impressed by the uplifting effect, increase in reading comprehension, and lack of any noticeable side effects, he decided to add it to his routine. Soren tried a number of different combinations and strategies for using caffeine and kratom as study-aids.
First, he experimented with only drinking coffee on one day, and then the next only drinking kratom. With this cadence, he was able to go from having such a high coffee tolerance that he needed five or six cups a day, to reducing that in half! As time has passed, his strategy for caffeine and kratom has changed.
Now, he wakes up to a cup of coffee which usually keeps him going until the afternoon. Then he fixes his first, and generally only, cup of kratom tea after lunch. After trial and error, this has proven to be the most effective pattern for him. We always recommend experimenting on your own to learn what’s best for you!
Yerba Mate and Kratom
Yerba mate is a delicious and bitter caffeinated drink that is the national beverage of Paraguay. Traditionally it is drunk from a bowl or glass using a metal straw with a strainer attached to the end called a “Mate.”
The leaves themselves are from the Ilex paraguariensis plant, which is related to the “true European holly” (I. aquifolium).
Leaves of the shrub are harvested with their twigs still attached, and roasted in a pan or dried over a fire shortly after. The leaves are then beaten free from the twigs, before being powdered and packaged.
Green Tea and Kratom
Kratom and green tea complement each other quite well. The sweet earthiness of green tea (C. sinensis) pairs well with the dramatic, but not overwhelming, bitterness of kratom. Green tea contains more than just caffeine.
Perhaps most famously, it has high levels of the amino acid L-theanine, which has been touted for its relaxation promoting qualities. In addition, it contains high levels of antioxidants in the form of various types of polyphenols.
To learn more, check out our recent blog post: Green Tea vs. Kratom Tea Comparison
Guayusa and Kratom
Like yerba mate, Guayusa is also in the holy family. It is very similar to yerba mate, with slight differences in the chemical make-up as well as its traditional context.
They both contain caffeine and theobromine (the caffeine-like chemical found in cacao), while yerba mate has theophylline (the mirrored version of theobromine) and guayusa has L-theanine.
When mixing guayusa with kratom, we’re getting essentially the same benefits as we do with kratom and yerba mate as well as kratom and green tea!
Herbal Tea for Energy and The Entourage Effect
The entourage effect was popularized in the cannabis world. As more and more cannabinoids were discovered in the plant, people began to postulate that THC wasn’t solely responsible for the effects.
This issue continues to be a hot topic for debate, with some outright denying the existence of the entourage effect and others explaining every micro-details of a cannabis experience with the ratios of terpenes and cannabinoids.
As of now, it’s unclear how much of an effect (if any) cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, CBN, THC-a, etc., have on the well established effects of THC.
When it comes to our herbal tea for energy, there is less of a question as to whether the different phytochemicals come together to create an effect different from the effect of one phytochemical by itself. In steeping any plant material, you’ll extract some chlorophyll, various vitamins and minerals, as well as the desired phytochemicals responsible for the desired taste and effect.
Taken all together, these compounds provide a unique effect that isn’t the result of any one plant. Plus, the variety of flavors that come together make it an utterly unique drink.
What to Expect Drinking This Herbal Tea for Energy
Our functional herbal tea for energy is specially formulated to get you going. You can drink it in the morning, as a mid-day refresh, or even before exercise. Each herb has been chosen for its unique benefits, as well as how it compounds with the effects of the other herbs.
To make this tea, you’ll want to use a thermos or a pot on the stove. Bring 1 to 2 cups of water per tea bag to a boil. While bringing your water to a boil, you can add a spritz of lemon juice to your tea bag in the thermos or pot. (The lemon helps some of the alkaloids in the kratom extract better.)
Once the water is boiling, pour it into your thermos and cap it, letting the tea bag steep for 20 minutes. If brewing over the stove, add your tea bag and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
Once 20 minutes is up, it is time to enjoy! Add sweetener to taste, and pour yourself a cup. Be careful, the tea is bound to be very hot. If you’d like, you can cool and serve over ice for a refreshing summer drink.
