Sleep Superblend

This is my partner’s favourite bedtime drink and has been a staple in our house for some time. It’s readily available from our local supermarket and I’ve lost count of how many boxes we’ve gotten through. I hadn’t drank it myself for a while, so last night I made a pot of it for us to share.

I have to say, this is hands down one of my favourite bedtime teas, too. While I do love a good herbal to take to bed with me, this one is set apart from the others due to the spices in it. The combination of the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom with the chamomile and apple is just amazing. Even when I’m drinking something different to my partner, I can still smell the spiced apple drifting from his mug. The vanilla in this is also stunning.

I’m glad I revisited this last night. I was reminded of how much I love it and of what a great blend it is.

Oh, and for the record… both my partner and I slept straight through until my alarm went off. A job well done!

301/365

I lay the blame for this one firmly at the feet of Arby, whose tasting note for this one meant that I immediately had to seek out a box – fortunately, it was pretty easy to come by. This is a chamomile-based sleep/bedtime blend, but is slightly unusual in that it also features spiced apple, vanilla, and passionflower.

I really like it. It’s sweeter than such blends usually are, and not as obnoxiously herbal. The apple is nicely prominent, and It’s almost juicy, in the way of apple juice (the kind that’s not from concentrate.) The vanilla adds a softening creaminess, which is always welcome, and the chamomile is pleasantly buttery which works well with the creaminess as well as the apple. The spicing is fairly mild, but there in the background. Taken as a whole, I’m reminded quite a bit of the spiced apple juice I made last autumn with another Twinings blend – Spicy Chai.

I haven’t really tried enough of this to comment on its sleep-inducing properties, but I will say that I slept really well last night, which is unusual for me. Long may it continue!

This is a newer blend from Twinings that I enjoyed so much I intend to buy a box.

The clove and cardamom are fabulous. The chamomile gives a sweet, dry hay taste. The apple is like dried apple chips (not green apple candy or fake apple flavour), and that works nicely with the vanilla bean and cinnamon. The clove is incredible, though. Vanilla and fragrant clove is a stellar combination. It was so good I had to resteep it a few times just because I kept drinking the entire cup. For a bagged herbal, this exceeded my expectations.