I semi-tried to cut back on coffee last month by drinking more tea. And while the de-coffe-ing didn’t stick, the tea habit did — thanks to Traditional Medicinals.

Despite the fact that the boring and unsexy company name evokes images of tea-drinking grandmas, Traditional Medicinals makes some tasty organic and fair trade teas. I discovered the company at Go Green Expo, where I got samples of EveryDay Detox and Organic Roasted Dandelion Root teas. Then I put off writing this post until now, when I can no longer remember anything about the taste of these except that I liked them so much I wrote down a note telling myself to write about them.

To jog my memory, I picked up a box of Traditional Medicinals’ Organic Echinacea Plus tea on sale at Co-opportunity, which kept me warm and toasty over the rainy weekend but wasn’t as yummy as I remembered the other teas to be. This tea smells and tastes like, um, hippie herb meds (not that there’s anything wrong with those).

Of course, taste isn’t the only reason people select a particular tea. Traditional Medicinals teas promise a myriad of health benefits. The Detox and Dandelion teas, for example, both promise to promote healthy liver function, while the Echinacea tea’s supposed to support the Immune System.

However, because every health claim’s followed by a footnote that states “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration” — the same sort of disclaimer that follows questionable diet pills — I’m not so certain I can trust the claims. Which is to say the main reason I drink tea’s to get warm, calm and cozy while sipping something yummy — not to cure ailments. That said, I also haven’t had a cold or liver failure since I started drinking the teas :P

In any case, Traditional Medicinals teas are nothing like silly diet pills with weird ingredients. Many of Traditional Medicinals’ teas are organic, and six flavors are fair trade — with more in the process of getting fair trade certified. Plus, the teas come in boxes made with at least 55% post-consumer recycled paper packaging. And as a company, Traditional Medicinals has installed a huge solar power system that provides 75% of the company’s energy needs; the last 25% is offset with wind energy green tags.

You can find Traditional Medicinals teas at many grocery and health food stores, or online at Traditional Medicinals. Amazon sells 6-box packs at a discount.

Don’t have money for tea? Win some by enlisting the help of a creative kid to enter Traditional Medicinals’ Kids Care for the Earth drawing contest. Kids can draw and send in a picture of their favorite “character, herb, or way to take care of the earth.” Every entry “wins” — and Traditional Medicinals will send back some stickers and a free box of organic Just for Kids tea.

Related links:
>> The Hungry Mouse names Traditional Medicinals’ Organic Ginger Aid Tea as one of her 3 favorite ginger treats — then shares a recipe for ginger-tinis.

>> Passionate Homemaking recommends Tra­di­tional Med­i­c­i­nals Organic Nighty Night Tea as a natural insomnia helper.

>> Aaron at 1GreenProduct claims Traditional Medicinals Echinacea Throat Coat took care of a stubborn sore throat.

Image via Traditional Medicinals

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