With so many herbal teas involving ingredients that grow in Colorado, it’s time to honor both the Buffs and Colorado with mugs of warm tea during the long season
One could argue that Boulder enjoys five seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall … and Buffs football.
The months of touchdowns, field goals, sacks and tackles is here, and the hometown team hasn’t lost a game yet. Of course we have only played one. And the team’s biggest rival, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, arrives at Folsom Field this weekend.
Go Buffs!
While we often associate football with beer, we prefer sipping warm tea during the games. As fall begins to tighten its chilly grip, few things satisfy like a cup with steam rising from the surface.
To honor one of Colorado’s most beloved teams, we began paying close attention to our herbal teas. The plant that provides the world with most of its tea, camellia sinensis, does not grow in Colorado. It’s far too cold and dry for tea to root and flourish anywhere in the Centennial State. But a lot of the ingredients found in herbal teas thrive across Colorado. It’s no coincidence that one of the city’s largest companies, Celestial Seasonings, largely revolves around herbs.
So let’s explore just two of our herbal tea blends, which we create ourselves at Ku Cha House of Tea. Each of them is different, but they share at least two characteristics — the ingredients can grow in Colorado, and sipping them during a crisp fall afternoon on a football field will bring immense pleasure.
Interested in customizing your own All-Colorado blend of tea? We are here for you. We have blend-your-own tea station, with more than 50 herbs and teas, where guests can make their own blends from dozens of herbal and traditional tea choices.
Cloud Chaser for Stress Relief
The name evokes the experience of drinking tea. You feel as relaxed as if you were lying down in the grass, staring up at a sky full of meandering clouds.
All of Calm Chasersingredients — lemon balm, lavender, marjoram, peppermint, rose petals and St. John’s wort — can grow along the Front Range. This tea is nearly as all-Colorado as it gets.
As with most herbal teas, the ingredients provide more than just warmth when steeped in hot water. Herbalists and naturopaths around the world turn to herbs to help deal with everything from insomnia to digestion to anxiety.
Lemon Balm
For example, lemon balm, which is a member of the mint family, is packed with lemon flavor. But people have been using it for centuries to deal with digestion, nervous system and liver issues. In fact, Carmelite nuns during the 14th century even used lemon balm to create a tonic known as Carmelite water.
Today, it is used to treat anxiety and sleep, among other things. Its essential oils are popular in aromatherapy, too. It contains a compound called rosmarinic acid that researchers believe might serve as valuable antioxidants and antimicrobials.
Lavender
Another Cloud Chaser ingredient, lavender, is famous for helping to relieve stress. Many natural health practitioners believe just inhaling lavender ratchets down anxiety and diminishes stress.
Lavender even has its own pharmaceutical drug, a patented German product called Silexan that is used to treat adults diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.
St. John’s Wort
One of the most well-known herbal medicines in the world is St. Johns’ Wort, a family of flowers known by the Latin name Hypericum perforatum.
St. John’s Wort has been used for centuries to treat depression. In the case of this flower, science backing its efficacy is widespread, with numerous scientific studies confirming that St. John’s Wort is useful for managing depression.
Night Time Blend for Deep Calm
Football games often bring loads of excitement: tension, thrills, crushing disappointments and more. Given the high-stakes nature of every game — the regular season has just a dozen games — many of us experience a lot of anxiety. And sometimes, sleepless nights, too.
Our custom Night Time Blendincludes chamomile, catnip, peppermint and valerian root. All of them can grow in Colorado, and as with Cloud Chaser, each herb offers lifestyle and health benefits.
Chamomile
Germans call chamomile “alles zutraut,” which means “capable of anything.” In ancient Egypt, people used the herb as an offering to the gods. In Mexico it is known as manzanilla, and widely used across the nation for a range of things, including supporting healthy respiratory function, and improving digestion. And Native Americans turned to chamomile for a many uses, from perfume to relieving gas.
Today, most people who savor hoisting cups of chamomile tea do so for the sense of relaxation and well-being that results. For those feeling overwhelmed with football stress, it’s an ideal herb.
Valerian Root
People seeking calmed nerves or sleep assistance often turn to valerian root, which is available in pill, tincture and tea forms across the country. Naturally, we prefer the tea.
Valerian root has a subtle flavor, and along with chamomile adds power to Night Time Blend’s ability to ease tension and still the mind.
Catnip
Like chamomile, catnip has a long history of applications from around the world. The plant was first mentioned in the 11th century herbal document De viribus herbarum, where it was championed for its abilities to soothe nervousness and help people relax. Native Americans used it to treat upset stomachs, as well as nervousness. It was even used as a brandy infusion to treat digestion problems by Spanish settlers in what is now the American Southwest.
Cats that encounter catnip often go a bit nuts. It makes them extremely frisky and energetic! But the effects are reversed with humans. Like the rest of Night Time Blend’s herbs, catnip helps calm nerves.
And that includes nerves that are going haywire thanks to the last five minutes of the big game.
