Spring Cleaning for the Soul: Teas to Awaken the Season
Today? A high of 39 degrees in Colorado. Clouds. Snow tomorrow. It’s April 3.
A week from today, though, sun blares and temperatures hit the 70s. And by then, it’ll finally be time to fling open those long-shut windows. To pick some spring flowers, and plunge them into a water-filled vase. To clean out the fridge, dust the insides of the cabinets, switch to the summer sheets and start introducing shorts and t-shirts back into the wardrobe.
We love the urgency with which many of us embrace cleansing and renewal in April. The long Colorado winter forced us to close off our homes from the elements—and to savor the cozy. But now we cast off those blankets, rise from the couch and delight in spring’s atmospheric deliciousness.
Drink it in! And along the way, think about adding new teas during this season of revitalization. Unlike most beverage categories, tea is a shape-shifter. Some teas feel most at home when snow falls and a fire crackles in the hearth. Others call out for ice, and shine at their brightest when we pad around in flip-flops and seek shade. Then there’s the bazillion in-between teas, those perfect for subtle shifts during the shoulder months.
Experiment with these teas, as powerful winter yields to delicate, tempestuous spring.
Spring Cleaning Teas: Allergy Blend
With warmth and longer days always comes a key step in the transformation of brown soil and bare trees into grass-and-flower spangled landscapes and leaf-and-blossom dense canopies. The plants begin broadcasting their pollen—it’s how they reproduce. But for many of us, those tiny flecks of vital dust precipitate tears from red, itchy eyes. Sneezes. Congested lungs and noses. Misery.
This custom blend addresses those pesky seasonal allergies through its mix of ingredients with natural antihistamine effects. The combination of turmeric, nettle, ginger, elderflower, tulsi and rosemary helps sippers navigate the battery of crippling symptoms that emerge just as flowers, leaves and grass also spring forth . Rich, savory, lightly spicy and sweet, the blend tastes magnificent, too.
Spring Cleaning Teas: An Ji White Green
For spring, why not sip tea that is harvested in the early patches of the season? After all, that’s when some of the most prized tea in the world gets harvested—when the leaves and buds are tender and youthful. An Ji White is actually a green tea—it gets its name from the leaves’ silvery-white appearance, the result of its early spring harvest. The tea, from Mt. Tian Mu in China’s coastal Zhejiang Province, contains high levels of theanine, which is a calming amino acid. Shade-harvested teas in Japan, too, offer banquets of theanine. The compound yields teas that are lightly sweet, with no bitterness. This is a pure springtime gem.
Spring Cleaning Teas: Balance Tea Herbal Blend
We never hesitate to extol the myriad virtues of this outstanding tea. The flavor, shot through with cinnamon, cardamom, licorice root, coriander, fennel, ginger and rose, brews into a tea electric with bright flavors and aromas. But the blend delivers more than flavor. We crafted it in accordance with Ayurvedic principles of balance to find harmony within body and mind. During this season of cold nights, bouts of snow and periods of sun and temperatures in the 70s, we think achieving balance is essential. Sink into relaxation and serenity with this beautiful brew.
