Could chakra teas be the answer to a calmer, more peaceful you?

Are you looking for calm and peace? Do your chakras need to be aligned? Well, there's a tea for that. After the folks at Buddha Teas dropped off some boxes at our offices, we were curious to try them out and see if we really felt more grounded or aligned after a cup or three.

Some people were converted, others not so much. We asked some staffers to share their thoughts on the 4th Chakra and Root Chakra teas.

Wanted Online editor Kath Kesselaar isn't convinced:

The 4th chakra tea doesn't smell great or taste great. While it doesn't taste awful, it lacks flavour - almost like, uh, dirty water or unsalted watery soup. I imagine the smell had a lot of influence over my personal taste of it. I only managed to drink half a cup before giving up.

The Root Chakra smells a lot more fragrant than the 4th Chakra and has a more inviting colour (sort of purple-pink). It tastes much better, has a berry taste, and I actually quite enjoyed it. I would definitely have another.

Not sure what the effects of each are meant to be on one's chakras but I did feel slightly more energised after drinking both teas in the late afternoon.

Tea connoisseur and TimesLIVE digital editor Kate Henry was a 4th Chakra fan:

The 4th Chakra tea has a mild, earthen smell to it, which is a pleasant change from the often overly fruity herbal teas on the market. Most of those teas, jam-packed with every berry, leaf and flower in existence, tend to wow with smell, then disappoint with taste.

4th Chakra matches smell with taste, which will be appreciated by those tea lovers who prefer their hot beverages without too much fanfare. Because of the fairly mild taste, let it brew for a bit longer than three minutes to properly get a sense of this blend. Warning: it does leave a slight - if pleasant - aftertaste.

Our multimedia reporter Xanderleigh Dookey is a convert:

After I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a few years ago, I have always been willing to try new things that may help me be less reliant on pills. And by new things I do not mean anything crazy or out of the ordinary. For example, I am not going to throw my prescription in the trash because a prayer warrior cast out the mental disorder demon and gave me a good dose of holy water and a bumper sticker to keep said demon away.

I did, however, do something a little extreme. When I heard that Buddha tea is supposed to realign your chakra I thought I'd give it a try. Two Root Chakra teabags later, I thought, "How will I know if this is working?" And there it was, the not-so-genius idea of putting the pills away the next day to see what would happen (do not try this at home).

Believe it or not, I felt grounded and had no irrational thoughts of impending danger. For two whole days I felt calm and in control.

Thankfully, I did not keep up my dangerous experiment long enough to know whether it was the tea or not. What I can tell you is that Buddha Tea is my new favourite. It tastes great, even without any sweeteners. Bonus: each teabag comes with a beautiful message of hope, love and light.

• Buddha Teas are available at selected health stores and pharmacies in Joburg and Cape Town. The suggested retail price is R270 a box.