Peppermint tea and camomile tea

As Shizuoka Prefecture is famous for its tea production, many people in Hamamatsu drink several cups of green tea in a day. It’s good to consume local products, but I mostly drink herb tea at home because I’m sensitive to caffeine and want to sleep well at night. According to data from Food Safety Commission of Japan, 100 ml of middle-grade green tea contains about 20 mg caffeine (100 ml of coffee contains about 60 mg of caffeine).

In the morning, I usually drink peppermint tea of POMPADOUR. Products of this German brand are found in Seijo Ishii in the basement of the station building and some other places such as the basement of Zaza City West.

Some people think tea is tasteless, but peppermint tea wakes you up with its refreshing flavor of mint. It also soothes headache, upset stomach, etc. A few years ago, I used to go to yoga lessons at night. One of the instructors diffused peppermint essential oil in the studio, saying that the scent of peppermint relieves a blocked nose and is good for hay fever. According to some websites, peppermint tea has the same effect. You can inhale the steam from hot tea and then drink it.

At night, I usually drink camomile tea. It has a scent that slightly reminds you of an apple. This tea makes you relax and sleep well.

Several years ago, a friend of mine sent me a pack of Chinese chrysanthemum flowers for tea. When seeing the dried flowers and tasting tea, I found it resembles camomile tea. Later, I learned both chrysanthemum and camomile are in the same plant family. Like camomile tea, chrysanthemum flower tea also helped me sleep well. It is a popular drink in China and one of their traditional herbal remedies but is difficult to find in ordinary food stores in Japan. I wonder if there are some other kinds of tea in Asia that correspond to European herb tea. In Japan (at least in Shizuoka Prefecture), green tea and its variations are so dominating that I can hardly remember any other kinds of traditional tea.