5 Organic Tea Blends for a Relaxing Night In

We’re taking things slow these days, swapping nights out at bars, restaurants, and movie theaters for cozy nights at home. Calm nights like these are even better when spent with a relaxing cup of tea, and maybe a bubble bath, a book, or a soothing podcast.

A great way to make your night in a little more sustainable is by choosing to brew organic tea over conventional tea. Teas that are grown organically don’t contain traces of chemicals like fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides like conventional teas do. Consuming organic tea isn’t just better for your health — it also means supporting sustainable growing methods that are good for both people and planet.

Put the kettle on, sit back and sip on these five organic tea brands, all of which are available in stores and online:

Photo by Alice Pasqual  

1. Numi Tea

There are a lot of reasons to love Numi Tea. For starters, it’s a certified B-corp, meaning it meets the highest standards for verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Numi’s organic tea leaves are picked by certified fair trade farmers, then placed in sustainable paper filter bags. What’s more, Numi is available online and in major retailers, so it’s largely accessible nationwide.

2. T Project

T Project is a small batch tea shop in Portland, Oregon, specializing in-blended teas with quality organic teas, herbs and spices. Sip on herbal, green, black, and oolong teas named after classic rock and folk tunes — Smoke on the Water, California Dreamin’ and Kozmic Blues among them. If you’re looking for a gift for the conscious tea drinker in your life, try out T Project’s gift sets, which include tea subscriptions, teapots, matcha whisks, and more.

Photo by Manki Kim

3. Equal Exchange

Equal Exchange is a for-profit worker cooperative with long-standing revolutionary roots. The co-op challenged Reagan-era trade policies to stand in solidarity with Nicaraguan farmers back in the 1980s, and it hasn’t stopped working for a fairer world since. Equal Exchange offers a selection of organic, fair trade green, black, and herbal teas that are hand-picked and ethically sourced in India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. Need a break from tea? You can also try Equal Exchange’s sustainable coffee, chocolate, and cocoa.

4. DAVIDsTEA

A pioneer in “positivitea,” DAVIDsTEA packages its loose leaf teas in bio-based, 100% recyclable sachets rather than in fossil fuel-derived plastics. Not all of this brand’s products are organic, but you can find a good 70 teas that are, ranging from green, black, herbal, fruit, chai, matcha, and more.

Photo by Drew Taylor

5. Yogi

Yogi brews 40 herbal, green, and black teas made from 140 spices and botanicals, each with their own specific health benefits. Whether you’re feeling under the weather, stressed, nauseous, or sleepy, Yogi has a blend to make you feel better. We love the Honey Lavender Stress Relief Tea for calming the nerves, and Throat Comfort, formulated with slippery elm bark, is the perfect homeopathic relief for a sore throat.

Cecilia Seiter
Cecilia is a freelance writer and contributor to Slow North. She writes largely about sustainability, especially as it applies to beauty, wellness, and the future of technology. She is a graduate of the journalism department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and is based in Los Angeles, CA.