Warm milk and honey tend to hog the spotlight when it comes to drinks to help you fall asleep, but if you prefer a non-dairy or calorie-free alternative, there are also many herbal teas that promote sleep. The best teas that help you fall asleep usually contain a blend of relaxing herbal ingredients, such as tea with chamomile flower, lavender, valerian root, and lemon peel, shown to induce drowsiness or calm the body and mind as you wind down for bed.
Even just the ritual of slowly sipping a warm cup of tea before your head hits the pillow can be a meditative practice that helps soothe your body from the inside out and wash away the worries and stressors from your day. Looking for other foods and drinks to help you sleep? If you need something a little more sleep-inducing, try some of the best CBD teas as another sleep aid.
So, if you find yourself counting sheep instead of blissfully slipping into a deep, restorative slumber, try firing up your tea kettle and steeping one of these relaxing bedtime teas to help you fall and stay asleep.
Traditional Medicinals Nighty Night
Traditional Medicinals Organic Nighty Night Relaxation Tea is their bedtime tea made with passionflower herb, chamomile flower, linden flower, catnip, hop strobile, spearmint leaf, lemon verbena leaf, lemon peel, and West Indian lemongrass leaf. Passionflower is said to reduce anxiety and reduce insomnia. This 100% certified organic, non-GMO tea has a sweet minty flavor with hints of citrus and spice. They also make Nighty Night Extra, which includes valerian root for more potent drowsiness. Traditional Medicinals Organic Nighty Night Relaxation Tea steeps in 10-15 minutes.
Celestial Seasonings Wellness Tea Sleepytime Extra
Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Extra Tea is a caffeine-free and gluten-free tea that promotes drowsiness before bed with its herbal blend of calming chamomile and valerian root. Valerian root is used in herbal medicine to treat insomnia because it increases levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which increases sleepiness and reduces anxiety. The tea is all-natural and has an herbaceous flavor with ingredients such as spearmint, West Indian lemongrass, hawthorn berries, and orange blossoms. The tea steeps in 4-6 minutes.
The Republic of Tea Get Some Zzz’s
The Republic of Tea’s Get Some Zzz’s No.5 Rest Herbal Tea lives up to its long name, helping you drift off to sleep soon after your head hits the pillow. The base of the tea is organic rooibos, which is then layered with calming orange peel, spearmint leaf, chamomile flower, and passionfruit. It also contains stevia leaf for calorie-free sweetness and valerian root extract to induce drowsiness. The tea steeps in 5-7 minutes and has a pleasantly sweet, floral, and herbaceous flavor.
Numi Organic Tea Sweet Slumber
Numi Organic Sweet Slumber is an organic, caffeine-free, non-GMO, bedtime tea made with Fair Trade Certified ingredients. It contains a pleasant mix of sleep-inducing, relaxing herbs such as chamomile sourced from Egypt, soothing lavender flowers, and lemon balm leaf, an herb said to induce drowsiness and aid sleep. Sweet Slumber also harnesses the sleep-supporting power of valerian root. It steeps for 8-10 minutes and has a distinct floral flavor.
Bigelow Benefits Sleep Chamomile Lavender Herbal Tea
If you’re looking for a calming tea before bed without valerian root or other ingredients that might make you groggy, a chamomile and lavender tea, such as Bigelow Benefits Sleep Chamomile Lavender Herbal Tea, is a good option. Bigelow is known for its affordable, yet high-quality teas. The Bigelow Benefits line of teas includes herbal blends used to confer various health benefits. The caffeine-free Sleep tea has a prominent floral flavor, with a full-bodied blend of soothing lavender and chamomile. Chamomile contains an antioxidant called apigenin, which has been found to bind to certain brain receptors that decrease anxiety and initiate sleep.
Yogi Tea Soothing Caramel Bedtime
Let’s face it: Sometimes, you’re just not in the mood for a floral tea, and who doesn’t like the sound of a sweet dessert-like tea before bed. Yogi Tea Soothing Caramel Bedtime is the answer to our wishes. This soothing herbal tea has a sweet, indulgent taste of vanilla and caramel with notes of chamomile and rooibos. The sleepy blend of rooibos tea includes chamomile flower, skullcap, and L-theanine, with chicory, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and sweet stevia.
Celestial Seasonings TeaWell Herbal Tea, Sleep with Melatonin
Melatonin is a well-known, evidence-based supplement used to support the body’s natural circadian rhythm and promote a good night’s sleep. Though usually only available in supplement form, Celestial Seasonings TeaWell Herbal Tea Sleep with Melatonin actually contains melatonin. Coupled with chamomile and mint with a light, slightly herbaceous flavor, this tea helps you feel relaxed, calm, and sleepy. Other ingredients include lemon balm, nettles, and coconut. A cup steeps quickly in just 3-4 minutes.
Pukka Herbs Night Time, Organic Herbal Tea With Valerian
Pukka Herbs Night Time is an organic herbal tea with valerian root. The caffeine-free, ethically sourced, 100% organic tea contains oat flowering tops, licorice root, chamomile flower, lavender flower, lime flower, valerian root, and green Rama tulsi leaf. It has a sweet, light flavor. Like all the Pukka teas, Night Time tea comes in plastic-free teabags, each with two chambers to give the organic herbs and essential oils ample room to fully bloom and maximize their potency. As such, Pukka Herbs Night Time tea should steep for a while—about 15 minutes for the perfect cup.
Organic India Tulsi Sleep Herbal Tea
This organic tea takes another route to relaxation with the reliance on Tulsi, an herb revered in India as a sacred plant endowed with power. Also known as “The Queen of Herbs” in India or as Holy Basil worldwide, Tulsi is said to support the immune system and counteract the body’s negative reactions to stress due to its high antioxidant content. The relaxing qualities of Tulsi can help alleviate bedtime stress and induce a sense of peace before bed.
Yogi Tea Bedtime
Yogi Bedtime tea is a warming, comforting way to end the day. Each cup brews a soothing blend of organic passionflower, chamomile, St. John’s wort, and valerian root extract, with the sweet spiciness of licorice, cinnamon, orange, and cardamom.
