RUNA Organic Clean Energy Loose Leaf Guayusa Tea, Cinnamon - Lemongrass, 1 Pound

I like what RUNA stands for, but I was disappointed with this product. It simply didn't taste very good to me. I wish I had bought a smaller size because now I'm trying to give it away to friends.Also I'm disappointed about the apparent plastic liner in the bag. I did buy this one because it looked like it might be a more eco bag, but I don't think that's the case.

LOVE THIS HERBAL TEA! One of my favorites, such a clean energy feeling! This is my favorite flavor, and it's even better with a shake of cardamom and a little agave. Brew for a bout 5 minutes, if you go much longer it starts tasting pretty bad pretty quick! This bag will last forever it seems, you don't need that much for a good cup of tea.

This tea is okay. I thought the organic cinnamon and lemongrass would be delightful, but it's kind of, well...not. The lemon flavor is almost as strong as the grass flavor. I don't taste the cinnamon at all. I am using it up by mixing it with other teas. That works okay and makes me feel less like I wasted money. I mix it, usually with a Chai or other yummy tea that does not provide much caffeine or other pick me up qualities. This blends well with those. It does smell good, though, so i am considering using it as a filler for a scented drawer sachet or something.

இ Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:ѾѾѾѾѾ Highly recommended with warm fuzzies!This guayusa tea is made from the leaves of an evergreen holly tree that is native to the Amazon rain forests in Ecuador. Yerba mate tea comes from a different species of holly tree that is native to regions south of Ecuador such as Bolivia and Argentina. Even though both guayusa and yerba mate are similar in their botanical origins, the two teas taste different, and yerba mate tends to have a bitter essence to it, especially if you steep it too long in boiling water. I drink both French-press coffee and loose-leaf tea without the addition of sugar, milk, or cream, and I do not find yerba mate to be too bitter, but this guayusa is definitely smoother in flavor than yerba mate and it also does not have the slightly bitter tannins present in most kinds of black tea and green teas. Even though some people do not like this tannic aftertaste from teas, I do not mind it; I just consider that to be part of the character of the tea leaves, just as I accept the slight bitterness of Brussels sprouts.The flavor of guayusa is similar to yerba mate tea, but more smooth and without its bitterness. The problem that I find with yerba mate is that it is easily over-brewed, which increases it bitterness. I like to steep all my teas longer for a stronger flavor, loading the tea leaves in a mesh tea ball. This guayusa can be steeped in boiled water for a long time without becoming over-brewed, and it never turns bitter. And the leaves can be re-steeped at least three or four more times before the flavor starts to fade. This compares favorably with some premium-grade teas that I have purchased in China before where the flavor peaks between the second and third re-steepings. The flavor is earthy and nutty with a very slight fruity sweetness, and a creamy smooth texture, somewhat like a smooth Darjeeling, oolong, or pu'erh tea.This guayusa loose-leaf tea blend is shipped in a foil-lined resealable bag, and it contains both organic cinnamon and organic lemongrass. The cinnamon is not powdered, but exists as pieces of cinnamon mixed in with the leaves. Because this mixture may have settled during storage and shipping, you should give the bag a thorough shaking to evenly distribute the blend before dipping a spoon into it. The aroma of the cinnamon is obvious in this tea, but not too strong, while the presence of the sweet aromatic lemongrass is also subtle, and the combination of the two give it a nice zest. Compared to some other cinnamon spice tea blends, this blend is more subtle with its cinnamon zest. It is more of a sweeter savory-spiced cinnamon, and not as much of a spicy-hot cinnamon that is commonly found in other spiced teas that use powdered cinnamon in their blends.Both guayusa and yerba mate have about 90 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving. Compared to the 25-60 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving of most black teas or green teas and the 100-150 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving of dripped or French-pressed coffees, guayusa tea definitely provides more stimulant than most black teas and green teas, but it is less potent than some coffee drinks. If you find yourself getting too jittery from drinking coffee, this guayusa tea can help stimulate and pick you up without the caffeine buzz of coffee or that roller-coaster surge-and-crash feeling when you consume too much caffeine too quickly. I still love my French press coffee too, and I like to alternate between coffee and this guayusa tea in the morning. By mid-afternoon on work days, I may switch to drinking green tea if I want to wind down on the caffeine. As a general rule, to prevent caffeine from interfering with your sleep, you should stop drinking caffeinated drinks 5 to 8 hours before bedtime. Everybody metabolizes caffeine differently with varying sensitivities. If you regularly consume caffeinated drinks, you tolerate it more and have less sleep interference from caffeine. If you rarely consume caffeinated drinks, drinking just one cup of green tea late at night may keep you awake in bed. Caffeine also affects men more than women; women tolerate caffeine more and men feel its effects more quickly than women.Indigenous hunters referred to guayusa as "night watchman" because its stimulant qualities helped them stay alert and focused during nighttime hunting trips. Like green tea and dark chocolate, guayusa has heart-healthy flavonoids, polyphenols, and saponins. Also like green tea, guayusa contains L-theanine, which has been shown to reduce physical and mental stress, providing a calming effect. Overall, guayusa has about twice the antioxidant content compared to green teas.Some people say that drinking guayusa tea promotes lucid dreams. However, I have also heard that other teas, herbs, and eating chocolate can also stimulate dreams. But I think the central factor that causes a person to have vivid dreams is the caffeine, and not really the tea leaves or chocolate that contains the caffeine. We all dream when we enter REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which starts roughly 70 to 90 minutes into sleep and continues on and off through the night. Having residual caffeine in our body interferes with REM sleep, causes our mind and muscles to be more restless during sleep, and causes us to remember our dreams more clearly. That is also why we often only remember our very last dream most clearly right before we come out of REM sleep or right as we are awakened by the alarm clock. So it is actually a bad thing to always vividly remember what you dreamed about last night because it means that your REM sleep is being disrupted. When it comes to sleep, the quality of those sleep hours is more important than the quantity. During deep sleep and REM sleep, your body performs a multitude of maintenance and repair functions, builds up mental and physical energy, and plays a key role in processing the learning experiences that you had on the previous day to strengthen neural connections that form your memory. So drinking guayusa tea does not really stimulate your dreams. Your brain goes through dreams every night on its own - strange dreams, wild dreams, scary nightmares, impediment dreams, etc. But drinking caffeinated drinks, such as this tea, into the evening hours disrupts your sleep more so that you remember those dreams more vividly... which is really not a good thing.This "Runa" brand is the best-tasting guayusa that I have tried. Runa is a New York company that works directly with small farms run by locals in Ecuador. This is the first direct-from-the-Amazon product that I have purchased from Amazon :-) This is great tea!

Started drinking this when I was in Ecuador. It helped my headaches from the altitude sickness. Love this tea! Guayusa gives me more energy than black tea! Since it has no tannins I find that it is lighter in flavor than black teas. I like the cinnamon lemongrass the best so far, but the hibiscus berry is a close second. Try them all.

I like RUNA and I like their Lemongrass / Cinnamon Tea. This one is not 'my cup of tea.' i just want to put in this opinion. I was hoping the citrus flavor would be the most powerful, but the ginger really steals the taste on this blend. If you like a tea with bite and/or a strong ginger taste--then this will be your blend.I am currently adding Licorice powder to overtake the ginger flavor.

This tea is absolutely delicious and has dramatically improved our gut health. Highly recommended!

Not a lot of guayusa in the mix. Kinda disappointing since guayusa is the active ingredient I was after. Open the bag to find mostly lemongrass which is not exotic or particularly expensive. The lemongrass is a fluffy filler. It tastes fine. I feel a bit ripped off.