2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Isabelle Bates)
A cup of tea is about as British as you can get, and multiple mugs of the stuff a day have been a part of my diet for more than a decade. The caffeine hit is especially needed throughout the winter months when dreery, cloudy days seem to be bumbling on for eternity. Swapping my usual Yorkshire Tea out for a decaffeinated breakfast tea is something I have tried in the past.
While I enjoyed the effects, the taste was something I could not get along with in the long term. Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp Elsewhere on the tea spectrum, herbal tea has historically been something I associate with feeling sick. I would be given camomile tea if I had a stomach ache so the thought of it takes me back to such a feeling.
So when Birchall sent me a bundle of herbal teas, I decided to swap out my usual brew for the Peppermint Leaves option for a week and pay attention to the affects on my body. The first thing I noticed was just how strong the scent of the prism bags was. One tea bag could easily be used in a pot to produce three or even four drinks.
The taste packed just enough punch to wake me up without the need for caffeine, and having a warm drink helped to fill the void that no tea at all would have left. I had one of two cups of peppermint tea each day for a week and noticed that I was much more alert than usual. I have put this down to being able to fall asleep quicker at night, making for a much more productive daytime thanks to the lack of caffeine spikes in my afternoons.
The rest helped my skin to become slightly brighter and I was able to concentrate on tasks with ease throughout the week. This, in turn, meant that I missed the caffeine less and less as the week went on and found myself not even craving it. Moving forward, I may continue to have a cup of English breakfast tea each morning but plan on continuing to have herbal tea instead in the afternoons.
Birchall will be launching in Waitrose stores nationwide from March 9. A spokesperson said: "Birchall is challenging the nation to rethink their daily brew with its #CheckYourBag campaign. "A recent YouGov survey commissioned by Birchall revealed that while 51% of Brits drink tea daily, 55% are unaware that many mass-market tea bags contain dust and stalks instead of real tea leaves.
Even more surprisingly, 1 in 5 Brits have never looked inside their tea bags. "Birchall’s #CheckYourBag campaign urges tea drinkers to rip open their tea bags and see the difference for themselves. "With 87% of people unaware that Africa is the world’s largest exporter of black tea, Birchall hopes to educate consumers on what makes premium tea truly special.
".
