Yeah, I know it’s been a while since we’ve rocked a K-Cup review here at Qwowi.com.  And while I’m sure my excellent sponsor, Shoffee.com is probably starting to wonder if I’ve disappeared with the samples they sent, the truth is, I’ve been drinking so much SleepyTime Tea that I’ve finding it next to impossible to stay awake long enough to write a review.

Actually, that’s not the least bit true, but it makes for a good segue into today’s review of Celestial Seasonings SleepyTime Tea (by Green Mountain).  Unconscious or otherwise, I’m  finding it a bit difficult to review tea as I find it lacks some of the nuances of coffee, but hey, I’m a man on a mission, so I’ll plow through as best as I can.

The Description (Tasting Notes)

Sleepytime® Herb Tea K-Cups Sleepytime Herb Tea, a comforting blend of chamomile and spearmint, creates a lullaby of tender flavor to soothe your senses. This 100% natural, gentle cup of hot tea lets you curl up under a quilt of flavor and quiet the tensions of your world. The part of your day shared with Sleepytime is like coming home to find a friend waiting for you by the fire. There’s no calm like the sigh from the spirit when you take this moment for rest and reflection … there’s no time like Sleepytime.

Ingredients: Chamomile flowers, spearmint leaves, lemon grass, tilia flowers, blackberry leaves, orange blossoms, hawthorn berries, and rosebuds.

Gluten Free.

The Aroma

When used properly, mint (spear or otherwise) can be a great addition to just about anything. When it’s botched, it makes for an unmitigated culinary disaster.  Thankfully, the mint in SleepyTime Tea is very well done. The aroma is minty (as you might expect), and quite appealing. It’s nowhere near overdone.

Drinking it Straight

I actually feel like I lose a bit of the mint flavor without adding sugar, Splenda, or honey. The flavor to me is more reminiscent of the flower tea you’re likely to encounter in your more authentic Chinese restaurants (I actually prefer it to the more common green tea). Straight SleepyTime is certainly flavorful, but despite the minty aroma, the chamomile and flower flavors are a bit more pronounced than I would have expected.

Sweetened Up

I’ve been using Splenda in my samples so far, although I’m generally more of a honey guy when it comes to tea. I’m sure it’s just find either way. Maybe it’s all in my head, but I feel like a sugary additive coaxes out a bit more minty flavor, which I definitely enjoy. The flowery flavor isn’t lost, but I find I like SleepyTime a bit more when the flavor skews towards the minty.

Final Thoughts

When I was sick a few weeks back I drank a fair amount of SleepyTime Tea.  While my evidence is far from scientific, I feel like at a minimum it was helpful for my sore throat, and the mint vapors may have helped out a bit with my clogged nostrils.  At the very least, Celestial Seasonings SleepyTime Tea is every bit as relaxing as the Tasting Notes suggest.  It’s also worth noting that it tastes pretty good too.

Word of warning though; as you might gather from the name, SleepyTime Tea is caffeine free, which is great as a “SleepyTime” Tea (go figure), but it’s not the best drink at 6:40AM, as I found out when I nearly passed out at my desk.  While I haven’t directly asked him, I think that’s the sort of thing my boss frowns upons, so I’ll stick to coffee in the wee AM.

Shameless Plug

Samples for this review, like so many others were provided by my buddy Joe over at Shoffee.com.  Not only can Joe hook you up with all the coffee and tea (like SleepyTime) you’ll ever need for your Keurig Brewer, but he’s got some other pretty cool offerings like Shock Coffee, which is pretty much the complete opposite of SleepyTime Tea.  If for some reason you don’t need to sleep for a couple of weeks, give it a try.

Also check out Shoffee sister site CupOfTheWeek.com for great deals on K-Cups by the box.

While you’re here, check out our growing list of reviews in the K-Cup Challenge.