There’s a reason so many people worldwide and across cultures end their day with a warm mug in hand. The simple act of heating water, steeping tea, and enjoying its calming effects has been a ritual for centuries. Whether it’s after dinner, post-sauna session, or in the quiet hours before bed, tea is one of the best ways to relieve stress. Tea for relaxation has moved well beyond a single box of chamomile; today's calming teas blend herbs such as tulsi, passionflower, lemon balm, and rose.
As such, it can be overwhelming deciding between the countless different options on the shelves. If you’re looking for the best teas for stress relief, we’re here to help. Our guide below ranks eight of the best calming teas, from specialty herb blends to classic relaxation staples.
How We Ranked These Calming Teas
To determine the best teas for stress, we developed standard criteria to measure each tea against the others. The criteria are weighted and add up to 100, giving us our final rankings.
- Key Herbs (35%): Does the blend feature herbs commonly associated with relaxation, such as tulsi, chamomile, passionflower, lemon balm, or rose? How many of them are included, and in what concentrations?
- Taste (25%): Is the tea something you’ll actually look forward to drinking? Is it floral, minty, herbaceous, earthy, or sweet? Does it taste medicinal or natural?
- Format (20%): How does the format of the tea relate to its quality and its use? Does it come in tea bags, sachets, or loose leaf?
- Price (20%): How does the cost per cup compare to the quality of the tea? What is the overall value?
1. Othership Soft Landing: Best overall tea for stress and anxiety
According to our criteria, Othership’s Soft Landing is the overall best tea for stress for anyone who’s looking to create a relaxation ritual using tea. Few blends bring together so many of the herbs that are most commonly associated with winding down. Tulsi, chamomile, rose, lemon balm, among others, come together to create a cup of the best tea for relaxing, which is both delicious and soothing. The tea is also caffeine-free, so you can enjoy it at any time of day or night.
Soft Landing was designed with moments like post-sauna cool-down in mind: that quiet stretch after subjecting the body to heat and cold when you’re ready to sit still and sip something warm. Whether you’re enjoying this tea after a sauna session or before bed, the Othership Soft Landing tea is an excellent candidate for someone looking to add a relaxing tea to their daily ritual.
- Key Herbs: Tulsi, chamomile, rose, lemon balm, passionflower, lemon verbena, linden flower.
- Taste: Floral, lightly fruity with notes of blackberry and pear
- Format: 15 tea bags (30g)
- Price: $18.88 (about $1.26 per bag)
2. Mountain Rose Herbs Peace Tea: Best loose-leaf relaxing blend
Mountain Rose Herbs Peace Tea blends a variety of calming herbs into a tea that's fruity, herbaceous, and subtly minty. Many of the herbs used in the blend are associated with relaxing properties such as lavender, rose, and passionflower. Because it’s a loose-leaf tea, you’ll need an infuser or a reusable cloth tea bag in order to brew the tea. While this can make the tea-making process feel more ritualistic, others see it as an extra step.
- Key Herbs: Chamomile, passionflower, rose, lavender, spearmint, cassia cinnamon
- Taste: Floral aroma with a minty finish
- Format: Loose-leaf tin
- Price: $13 per tin
3. Organic India Tulsi Sweet Rose: Best tulsi-forward calming tea
Tulsi is one of the most prominent herbs in many teas for anxiety found on the market. It’s an herb that has been used for centuries to relieve stress. Organic India Tulsi Sweet Rose highlights its tulsi content while adding chamomile for extra calming effects and rose for floral flavor and aroma. The stress-relieving tea also offers great value, at under 40 cents per bag, making it one of the best teas for stress relief in both flavor and price.
- Key Herbs: Tulsi, chamomile, rose
- Taste: Floral and lightly sweet
- Format: 18 tea bags
- Price: $6.99 (about $0.38 per bag)
4. Traditional Medicinals Cup of Calm: Best passionflower-forward calming tea
Traditional Medicinals Cup of Calm tea leads with passionflower, chamomile, and lavender, while also featuring other herbs such as rosemary, spearmint, and even catnip. It’s a multi-herb option that feels closer to a classic European-style evening tea than a sweet floral option. Each bag is individually wrapped to keep it fresher. This tea is one of the best teas for stress and anxiety, and is a great way to calm the mind and create a ritual that may reduce anxiety.
- Key Herbs: Passionflower, chamomile, lavender, catnip, rosemary
- Taste: Floral and minty, very lightly sweet
- Format: 16 individually wrapped tea bags
- Price: $7.49 per box
5. Othership Smooth Sailing: Best warming tea
Smooth Sailing is another herbal calming blend by Othership, which also specializes in sauna/cold plunge treatments. As such, they’ve developed an herbal blend that is designed to be both relaxing and warming. The tea is excellent for post-sauna cool-downs. It has a spiced, warming flavor, with herbs such as tulsi, rooibos, cranberry, and cinnamon.
- Key Herbs: Tulsi with rooibos, cranberry, cinnamon, and ginger
- Taste: Spiced, warming, and gently sweet
- Format: Tea bags
- Price: $18.88 per box
6. Harney & Sons Organic Lemon Balm Chamomile: Best lemon balm blend
In addition to other herbs such as tulsi, chamomile, and spearmint, lemon balm is one of the most common ingredients found in calming teas. This tea by Harney & Sons places an emphasis on lemon balm; the tea ends up being light in body and fresher than some of the other teas on this list. The tea also provides excellent value, with a bag of 50 sachets coming in at only $19.99.
- Key Herbs: Lemon balm, chamomile, lavender
- Taste: Light-bodied and fresh with notes of spearmint and nutmeg
- Format: Whole-leaf sachets
- Price: $19.99 for 50 sachets
7. Tazo Organic Calm: Best widely available calming tea
Tazo’s Organic Calm tea brings together a variety of herbs including chamomile, lemon balm, and rose in order to create a calming tea that is both soothing and delicious. The real strength of this tea, however, is that it can be found almost anywhere. Tazo products are carried in thousands of stores across the country, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding this calming tea. While it may not be as strong an option as some of the other teas on this list, it’ll more than do in a pinch.
- Key Herbs: Chamomile, rose, lemon balm
- Taste: Mild and light-bodied with subtle citrus notes
- Format: Tea bags
- Price: $4.99
8. Traditional Medicinals Lemon Balm Tea: Best lemon balm tea
While some tea drinkers may find the Traditional Medicinals Lemon Balm Tea to be a bit one-note, fans of lemon balm teas will love it. Most teas use lemon balm as an ingredient for a calming herbal blend, but Traditional Medicinals has created a tea that is just lemon balm. If lemon balm works for you, then you might find this to be the best tea for calming relief.
- Key Herbs: Lemon balm
- Taste: Cool, minty, and fresh
- Format: Tea bags
- Price: $7.49 per box
Spin-Off Rankings by Use Case
Best Calming Tea Blends for a Post-Sauna Cool Down
The Best Tea for Stress For You!
Whether you’re winding down after an afternoon spent between the sauna and cold plunge or closing out a long workday, herbal tea can be a great way to carve out a few quiet moments to relax and unwind. Whether it’s budget-friendly staples like Tazo or artisanal blends like Othership, the world of calming teas is wide-ranging. Our top pick for stress-relieving teas is Othership’s Soft Landing, which stands out thanks to its strong mix of herbs and reasonable price point. If you’re looking to begin a new calming ritual, think about giving herbal tea a chance!
Build your own wind-down ritual with Othership’s Herbal Teas collection today!