Strong herbal tea bag teas without hibiscus

August 9, 2019 7:33 AM

I enjoy a variety caffeine-free herbal teas made with teabags. Can you recommend strongly flavored herbal teabags? I like things like Numi Desert Lime, Tazo Wild Sweet Orange, and Yogi Egyptian Licorice. Most other herbal teas (think ginger, chamomile, spice, etc.) are very weakly flavored, even if I use more than one teabag. I really dislike the flavor of hibiscus.

I am in the United States and don't care whether the teabags are from grocery stores, specialty shops, or online.

posted by OrangeDisk to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

Do you know about Good Earth’s Sweet and Spicy? It’s so strong I’ve had people from across the aisle on planes ask me what it is that smells so good. Not sure if it’s what you mean by herbal but it’s caffeine free and very strongly flavored!
posted by stellaluna at 7:59 AM on August 9, 2019 [7 favorites]

(upon preview I see I'm not alone) I am the hugest fan of Good Earth Sweet & Spicy tea. I like Blue Lotus Masala Chai tea too.
posted by correcaminos at 8:02 AM on August 9, 2019

And I've also had random people (students in my office, people in meetings) ask me what smells so good.
posted by correcaminos at 8:02 AM on August 9, 2019

Check out the Herbal section at David's Tea. Herbal treas are my favorite, too, and some of my best ones are from David's. The ingredients are listed, so it's easy to skip any with hibiscus.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 8:21 AM on August 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

Do you like bitter flavors? Like roasted dandelion root, roasted chicory, roasted barley? Because I love all of those things in the strong-as-coffee flavor department.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 8:32 AM on August 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Bengal Spice regularly has visitors to my office asking what smells so good (thank you for reminding me that I need to restock).
posted by joycehealy at 9:12 AM on August 9, 2019 [8 favorites]

Peach tea flavor generally comes through pretty well. I generally just get the celestial seasonings one from the grocery store but sometimes I’ll splurge on something nicer from an actual tea store. (The celestial seasonings one does list hibiscus as an ingredient, but so does wild sweet orange, so maybe if the other flavors are strong enough you’re okay?)
posted by tan_coul at 9:41 AM on August 9, 2019

I've had tons of luck with the herbal tea bags from Republic of Tea.
posted by erst at 9:56 AM on August 9, 2019

I like the loose leaf from Simpson and Vail. They make and earl grey rooibos that makes me not even miss black tea. Nice, strong bergamot flavor. (Check the rooibos flavored section too.) If you like sweet then the blueberry cinnamon crumble rooibos is AMAZING. It’s less of a punch but a strong blueberry and cinnamon taste like a muffin.
posted by Crystalinne at 10:21 AM on August 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

If you like the flavor of Atomic Fireballs, you will love this Herbal Hot Cinnamon tea from Harney & Sons. Sweet, spicy and especially delicious come fall & winter.
posted by Champagne Supernova at 11:16 AM on August 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

I was going to recommend Celestial Seasonings zingers but realized that's their hibiscus line (which I'm guessing you knew). Still, this brand is pretty widely available, so have you tried their decaf herbal/green tea Candy Cane Lane? They market it for winter, but I think it's tasty year-round.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:33 PM on August 9, 2019

I really like the Lloyd plum and fig warming tea, which actually tastes like something, unlike most fruity teas. Not sure if it has hibiscus though, you could check the ingredients. Seconding Bengal spice as well.

You might like herbal blends with fennel since you like licorice tea - they tend to have a stronger taste than other herbal teas.
posted by randomnity at 1:19 PM on August 9, 2019

I also hate hibiscus and I like Pukka teas precisely because they don't just shove hibiscus into everything. I currently have the "after dinner" blend which is one you might enjoy if you like licorice.
posted by sarahw at 1:55 PM on August 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Trader Joe's has a Tulsi (holy basil) tea that brews pretty strong - it's roasty, smells a little like spice and licorice.
posted by meemzi at 2:00 PM on August 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm another hibiscus hater - the flowers are beautiful but the flavour is, ah, emphatically not my cup of tea. I'm in the UK but I think my current favourites are all either American imports or available in the US anyway:

Tension Tamer by Celestial Seasonings: eleuthero, peppermint, cinnamon, ginger, chamomile, lemongrass, licorice, catnip(!!), tilia flowers

Sleepytime by Celestial Seasonings: chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn, rosebuds

Licorice by Yogi Tea - possibly the same as your Egyptian Licorice, named differently for the British market: liquorice, cinnamon, ginger, orange peel, cardamom, black pepper, roasted chicory, barley malt, cloves, orange extract, vanilla extract

Sweet Chilli, also Yogi Tea: liquorice, cocoa shells, spearmint, fennel, anise, ginger, peppermint, nettle, cinnamon, chilli pepper, cardamom, cloves, black pepper

... and pretty much any simple peppermint and liquorice blend, with Pukka the one I have on the go right now.

I'm also keen on Pukka Detox, which is currently undergoing a name change (to Feel New) to avoid falling foul of advertising rules - but it looks as if it might not be available in the US. I'm mentioning it anyway on the off-chance: it's got aniseed, fennel seed, cardamom seed, licorice root, coriander seed and celery seed.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:12 PM on August 9, 2019

I really like this tea - Palanquin Spiced Red Bush. Caffeine free rooibos tea, and flavoured with cinnamon, ginger, clove, black pepper and cardamon.
posted by essexjan at 3:12 PM on August 9, 2019

Any rooibos tea seems to me to have more body to it and be more tea-like and might suit you.
posted by lookoutbelow at 3:50 PM on August 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

As something else to try, Millie’s Sipping Broth might be satisfactory. Its not a ‘tea’, but is strongly flavorful and comes in tea bags. I’m obsessed.
posted by MountainDaisy at 5:46 PM on August 9, 2019

I am a big fan of Trader Joe's tea. The Moroccan Mint is my current favorite.

Ginger teas from the brands on the International foods aisle of the grocery store are wildly more potent than the stuff on the tea aisle.
posted by gatorae at 9:02 PM on August 9, 2019

Market Spice Cinnamon-Orange Tea is amazing. Really intense and while they say there is no sweetener it tastes quite sweet.

I'd also recommend Celestial Seasonings Almond Sunset tea (if you like almond flavor). I can often find this one in the grocery store and it's a good one for the fall/winter seasons.
posted by belau at 9:02 PM on August 10, 2019

As you mention ginger specifically- you can just cut off a bit of fresh ginger and add boiling water.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:27 AM on August 11, 2019

We are spending this winter drinking MEM Tea's Spicy Turmeric Tonic: "Turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cacao, rooibos, & elderberry".
posted by nonane at 8:43 AM on December 11, 2019