Camomile - Fairtrade - Tea of Life - 25 tea bags

Camomile from Tea of Life

Camomile is not tea in the strict sense. It is an infusion of camomile flowers rather than leaf from the tea plant, which is why there is no caffeine in it at all. The cup is pale gold and soft, with none of the tannin grip of a black tea. Twenty-five bags, each individually wrapped.

What it tastes like

Gentle and floral, soothing rather than sharp. It takes nothing with it — no milk, no lemon — and because there is no tea tannin to turn harsh, leaving the bag in a little longer makes the cup fuller instead of bitter.

The evening cup

With no caffeine in it, camomile is the usual thing to reach for late on: after dinner, or last thing, when a black tea or a coffee is more than you want. It does the same job in the afternoon if you have had enough coffee for one day.

Making it

Flowers need more heat and more time than green leaf: water straight off the boil, one bag per cup, four to five minutes. Cover the cup while it steeps if you can — camomile gives off most of its scent in the first minute, and a saucer on top keeps it in the cup.

Fairtrade and individually wrapped

The camomile is Fairtrade certified. Each bag comes in its own sealed wrapper, which counts for more with a flower than with a leaf: the aroma is light and it fades quickly in an open box, so wrapping keeps the twenty-fifth cup smelling like the first.

Details

• Camomile herbal infusion
• Brand: Tea of Life
• Naturally caffeine-free
• Fairtrade certified
• 25 individually wrapped tea bags
• Brewing: one bag per cup, water off the boil, four to five minutes