What\u2019s a functional beverage? While it is fairly wide ranging, the profile of a typical functional beverage leans into herbs, roots, spices, seeds and more to precipitate desired effects, such as calm, energy, creativity and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coverage suggested that the places where beverages and targeted health benefits intersect is new; that until 2025, the the \u201cfunctional\u201d aspects of beverages didn\u2019t veer far from caffeine (coffee, tea and energy drinks) and probiotics (kombucha and other fermented, probiotic laced drinks).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tea Offers Huge Variety of Functional Botanicals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kuchatea.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/AdobeStock_210008968-1024x768.jpeg\")
Tea incorporates hundreds of herbs. These are among the more common botanicals used in tea blends.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nBut people have turned to tea for specific health advantages<\/mark><\/a> for thousands of years. Tea is the OG functional beverage!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe celebrate the rise of the functional beverage category, which has yielded a diversity of new products in the refrigerated shelves of our grocery stores. Beverages containing mushrooms like reishi and lion\u2019s mane? Plenty of them now; precious few just two years ago. Drinks with the root ashwagandha? Spiked with the leaf holy basil? Packed with chrysanthemum, electrolytes, cassava root and vitamins like B12? Indeed to all of the above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As consumers consider new functional beverages, it is important that they also understand that most of the ingredients in ready-to-drink functional beverages<\/mark><\/a> are found in glorious tea. And where functional beverages normally come in cans or bottles, tea presents a simpler and more straightforward engagement with the key ingredients. You\u2019ll see them, whole, in the teas that we sell. You control their concentration in your brews, either through the length of time you steep, or the amount of tea you use in the pot.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs we sink deeper into the holiday season, we here offer a range of teas custom-designed for different kinds of people and pursuits. Merge with the functional beverage zeitgeist, and do it through tea! You will savor the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTea as Functional Beverage: For Athletes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kuchatea.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/sebastian-staines-xZIFEPtRsRI-unsplash-1024x819.jpg\")
Skiers – tea if your functional beverage friend! (Photo Credit: Sebastian Staines)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nSure, athletes desire energy. And caffeine serves as an outstanding functional ingredient to boost it. But thriving as a jock requires more than the stuff that delivers zing and zip. Hydration matters. Management of inflammation helps. Detox can benefit<\/a> athletes, too \u2014 they want their bodies firing on all cylinders without impediments.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor everybody out there who engages with physical activity, from hiking to running to playing basketball or snowboarding and a million things in between, we offer three teas that will improve your experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CHA Awake (Organic<\/span>)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis special Ku Cha blend, created in collaboration with CU Boulder\u2019s Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA), combines ripe puerh and premium black tea, both from Yunnan Province – the origin of all the world\u2019s teas. Both the puerh and black tea provide caffeine, and thus energy. But the puerh, which is fermented tea, also helps optimize digestion, which is important for people tearing down slopes or cycling up hills. The blend also incorporates orange peel and cinnamon, both of which provide benefits. Cinnamon, for example, contains polyphenol antioxidants, which act like insulin in the body. These antioxidants help move glucose into cells, which speeds up the movement of sugar into muscles, which is key for fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rooibos Chai<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nSome athletes shrink from caffeine, because it interferes with their digestion or they don\u2019t appreciate how it can spike and then crash. For these jocks, our Rooibos Chai is perfect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This special chai\u2019s athletic advantage revolves around the rooibos, a South African shrub that people in the country drink constantly. Electrolytes pack rooibos, and electrolytes are vital for effective hydration. Where some people turn to sugary drinks like Gatorade that contain added electrolytes, others just keep it simple and far healthier, by sipping rooibos drinks. This chai also contains classic spices: cinnamon, ginger and anise, all of which are important for digestion, as well as black pepper, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tired Bone Herbal Blend<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis caffeine-free blend does help increase energy<\/mark><\/a>, but mainly through the inclusion of ginkgo and rosehip, with support the circulatory system and as a result gently boost energy. At the same time, the nettle leaf in our Tired Bone Blend mitigates inflammation, which serves as pure balm for those joints turned achy and weary from the marathon training or the hockey game. This tea also contains lemon balm, lavender and chamomile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTea as Functional Beverage: For Artists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kuchatea.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/frankie-cordoba-fPYJeMmYWM4-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
Sip, create. Sip, create. Repeat. (Photo Credit: Frankie Cordoba)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nMidafternoon Blahs Organic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nExhaustion and creativity do not align in complementary ways. To help power artists through creative projects, without amping them up too much with caffeine, we recommend our Midafternoon Blahs tea. The outstanding bland incorporates gentle Japanese sencha tea, which provides light amounts of caffeine. It also contains peppermint and lemongrass, which awaken the taste buds and enliven the mind. This is an ideal afternoon tea for anybody toiling to finish that novel, paint the Flatirons or work on the lyrics for the new song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cloud Forest White<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nJust as Midafternoon Blahs turned to light Japanese sencha for its dose of caffeine, Cloud Forest White incorporates gentle white tea for its dollop of functional zest. Artists of all stripes can sip this gorgeous tea all day to remain alert without getting the jitters that come from intense caffeine drinks. But it offers much more than white tea: rosehips, hibiscus, sunflower, cornflower, osmanthus, rose, safflower and calendula also populate this extremely diverse blend. We think the density of blossoms in in this tea is immensely stimulating and evocative. Prepare for intense artistic achievements!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meditation Herbal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe artistic process is a meditative one; few artists complete their greatest achievements in between errands. Making art requires focus and experiencing the \u201czone,\u201d that meditative state wherein ideas and expressions combine into something much greater than the sum of their parts. Our meditation herbal incorporates yerba mate, a South American shrub that people in a handful of countries drink around the clock. Yerba mate does contain caffeine, but the caffeine quotient is light. This blend also includes ginkgo, which increases blood circulation and is famous worldwide for its ability to jumpstart mental activity and enhance memory. In addition, you will taste cinnamon, black pepper, lavender, marshmallow and rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTea as Functional Beverage: For Sleep-Deprived<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kuchatea.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/minh-ng-c-CnOKakZ-V7Q-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
Get thee to sleep – with tea. (Photo Credit: Minh Ng)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nNight Time Herbal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen life yields a busy mind and interferes with sleep, instead of spending the night tossing and turning drink our Nighttime Herbal blend<\/a> an hour or so before hitting the sack. With popular herbal sleep<\/a> tonics like chamomile, catnip, peppermint and a sleep powerhouse, valerian root, this tea will help drift you away from those chaotic thoughts and sink into la-la land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But people have turned to tea for specific health advantages<\/mark><\/a> for thousands of years. Tea is the OG functional beverage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We celebrate the rise of the functional beverage category, which has yielded a diversity of new products in the refrigerated shelves of our grocery stores. Beverages containing mushrooms like reishi and lion\u2019s mane? Plenty of them now; precious few just two years ago. Drinks with the root ashwagandha? Spiked with the leaf holy basil? Packed with chrysanthemum, electrolytes, cassava root and vitamins like B12? Indeed to all of the above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As consumers consider new functional beverages, it is important that they also understand that most of the ingredients in ready-to-drink functional beverages<\/mark><\/a> are found in glorious tea. And where functional beverages normally come in cans or bottles, tea presents a simpler and more straightforward engagement with the key ingredients. You\u2019ll see them, whole, in the teas that we sell. You control their concentration in your brews, either through the length of time you steep, or the amount of tea you use in the pot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we sink deeper into the holiday season, we here offer a range of teas custom-designed for different kinds of people and pursuits. Merge with the functional beverage zeitgeist, and do it through tea! You will savor the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, athletes desire energy. And caffeine serves as an outstanding functional ingredient to boost it. But thriving as a jock requires more than the stuff that delivers zing and zip. Hydration matters. Management of inflammation helps. Detox can benefit<\/a> athletes, too \u2014 they want their bodies firing on all cylinders without impediments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For everybody out there who engages with physical activity, from hiking to running to playing basketball or snowboarding and a million things in between, we offer three teas that will improve your experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CHA Awake (Organic<\/span>)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This special Ku Cha blend, created in collaboration with CU Boulder\u2019s Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA), combines ripe puerh and premium black tea, both from Yunnan Province – the origin of all the world\u2019s teas. Both the puerh and black tea provide caffeine, and thus energy. But the puerh, which is fermented tea, also helps optimize digestion, which is important for people tearing down slopes or cycling up hills. The blend also incorporates orange peel and cinnamon, both of which provide benefits. Cinnamon, for example, contains polyphenol antioxidants, which act like insulin in the body. These antioxidants help move glucose into cells, which speeds up the movement of sugar into muscles, which is key for fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rooibos Chai<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some athletes shrink from caffeine, because it interferes with their digestion or they don\u2019t appreciate how it can spike and then crash. For these jocks, our Rooibos Chai is perfect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This special chai\u2019s athletic advantage revolves around the rooibos, a South African shrub that people in the country drink constantly. Electrolytes pack rooibos, and electrolytes are vital for effective hydration. Where some people turn to sugary drinks like Gatorade that contain added electrolytes, others just keep it simple and far healthier, by sipping rooibos drinks. This chai also contains classic spices: cinnamon, ginger and anise, all of which are important for digestion, as well as black pepper, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tired Bone Herbal Blend<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This caffeine-free blend does help increase energy<\/mark><\/a>, but mainly through the inclusion of ginkgo and rosehip, with support the circulatory system and as a result gently boost energy. At the same time, the nettle leaf in our Tired Bone Blend mitigates inflammation, which serves as pure balm for those joints turned achy and weary from the marathon training or the hockey game. This tea also contains lemon balm, lavender and chamomile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Midafternoon Blahs Organic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Exhaustion and creativity do not align in complementary ways. To help power artists through creative projects, without amping them up too much with caffeine, we recommend our Midafternoon Blahs tea. The outstanding bland incorporates gentle Japanese sencha tea, which provides light amounts of caffeine. It also contains peppermint and lemongrass, which awaken the taste buds and enliven the mind. This is an ideal afternoon tea for anybody toiling to finish that novel, paint the Flatirons or work on the lyrics for the new song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cloud Forest White<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as Midafternoon Blahs turned to light Japanese sencha for its dose of caffeine, Cloud Forest White incorporates gentle white tea for its dollop of functional zest. Artists of all stripes can sip this gorgeous tea all day to remain alert without getting the jitters that come from intense caffeine drinks. But it offers much more than white tea: rosehips, hibiscus, sunflower, cornflower, osmanthus, rose, safflower and calendula also populate this extremely diverse blend. We think the density of blossoms in in this tea is immensely stimulating and evocative. Prepare for intense artistic achievements!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meditation Herbal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The artistic process is a meditative one; few artists complete their greatest achievements in between errands. Making art requires focus and experiencing the \u201czone,\u201d that meditative state wherein ideas and expressions combine into something much greater than the sum of their parts. Our meditation herbal incorporates yerba mate, a South American shrub that people in a handful of countries drink around the clock. Yerba mate does contain caffeine, but the caffeine quotient is light. This blend also includes ginkgo, which increases blood circulation and is famous worldwide for its ability to jumpstart mental activity and enhance memory. In addition, you will taste cinnamon, black pepper, lavender, marshmallow and rose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Night Time Herbal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n When life yields a busy mind and interferes with sleep, instead of spending the night tossing and turning drink our Nighttime Herbal blend<\/a> an hour or so before hitting the sack. With popular herbal sleep<\/a> tonics like chamomile, catnip, peppermint and a sleep powerhouse, valerian root, this tea will help drift you away from those chaotic thoughts and sink into la-la land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTea as Functional Beverage: For Athletes<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTea as Functional Beverage: For Artists<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTea as Functional Beverage: For Sleep-Deprived<\/h3>\n\n\n