CHO-WA (1 box with 30 individual packets, 0.11 Ounce each)

I first heard about this tea from Bill O'Reilly of all people, he'd mentioned it had been an "awful tasting" but super effective tea. I looked it up on the internet and came across John Gray (the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus doctor). I highly recommend you watch that John Gray Youtube video about Cho-wa if this tea interests you. In a nutshell, he says this tea helps balance your blood sugar which is why it can help you with everything from energy, to focus to weight loss. It's expensive, let's just admit that, but balancing your blood sugar is SO healthful that the number of weight and health issues it helps you with are so great that you have to think of it as a medication. Both Bill O'Reilly and John Gray called this tea "bitter" (see the reason in the John Gray Youtube, it's to balance against sweet carbs) so I expected it to be very gross to the taste but hoped it would be healthful. I was pleasantly surprised -- it's really not that bad tasting. If you drink hot water with lemon in the morning (a very healthy yoga habit that detoxifies the body) then this is similar to that. I looked on the package and found it does have some citrus in it so that's really what it's like. I've only had this stuff for a week but I've found that when I've had it before my carb meal I eat less and it does seem to give you some focus and clarity. You basically either take it in the morning or when you're eating something with too many carbs. Again, see the John Gray video because I haven't seen any directions on the package that really tell you as much about its benefits. So far, I have enjoyed this tea but I mainly wanted to post this review so people would know where to find more information about why it's supposed to be healthy. I hope I continue to reap results and would love the price to come down a bit, but Amazon is a lot cheaper than the company's own website.

A friend gave me a packet of this tea recently, and it seemed to give me a pleasant sense of euphoria within minutes of drinking it. I thought I was imagining things, but upon further investigation of other customer reviews, it seems this does happen with this tea for a good chunk of the users. My work is in holistic health, and I do things daily to take care of my health, so maybe that is why it seemed to have a strong effect on me, while some reviewers have noted no effect. It also did give a nice kick of energy. I enjoyed the taste of the tea (although I already have been drinking unsweetened green tea for a while), very earthy, and the euphoric element was nice...so here I am to order some more. Update 8/29/13 - I purchased a 30 pack last month, and am getting close to the end of my supply. I have noticed a significant increase in my energy, clear thinking, and uplifted mood...have done more research into the ingredients, and I suspect it is the Gingko and especially the Rhodiola Rosea. I am looking into taking Rhodiola Rosea supplements (the ones by Gaia Herbs look good), will update my review to let you know if the supplements have the same effect. Update 1/3/13 - I've been taking the Gaia Herbs Rhodiola Rosea supplements daily for the last 4 months, and it has completely eliminated my usual tendency towards seasonal depression, as well as my past dips in energy throughout the day...maybe not the solution for all, but it's been a miracle for me, and I am glad I discovered it through the ingredients of this tea. I wouldn't recommend cheaper, dry forms of the pill (Gaia Herbs is liquid extract); I tried some and they weren't as effective for me. I still really like this tea though when I have the money for it, it's a very nice and effective quick pick-me-up.

A bit expensive and tastes like you just licked a cold wet tree ( if drank cold). But drinking it warm and adding some honey make it a good start to the morning .

I started this tea as a substitute for coffee...and chocolate. I am in a master's program and was pretty addicted to the caffeine. Trouble was the acid was killing my stomach, disrupting my sleep and the sugar in the chocolate...well let's not go there. I was exhausted and my system was really toxic. So on top of a bunch of other stuff, I quit the coffee and chocolate and started taking Cho-Wa. I has been about 3 weeks and I definitely feel a "gentle lift" in the morning. BUT, if I did not sleep well or had a hard day previous, it was not a magic potion. If your adrenals are exhausted like mine were, it takes a lot time and patience. (sigh) Yes I agree with some reviews I did get dizzy and had a headache and felt terrible at first. But experience told me that was my body beginning to release all the toxins. Fuzzy brain was another annoying symptom. But in conjunction with a clean diet, (no gluten, dairy or processed sugar for me) gentle exercise and lots of water and sleep I have started to come around. No this product will not increase stamina, it will give you a gentle lift, not a full charge double shot latte lift. The other products are medicinal herbs and you should know what each of them does. Rhodiola reduces stress and will increase stamina and mental acuity but it is unclear from the proprietary formula how much Rhodiola is in the product. High dosages of this product have been known to cause fatigue. (According to [...]). My suggestion would be to research the herbs and know what they do, or get a health practitioner to advise you.

Taste awful

Good product but misleading description: it is advertised as 30 individual packages and it came as one large bag. They used to have individual packages a long time ago and I strongly preferred that. Otherwise I like the product it works well.