Spotlight | Sekaya Botanic Infusion.

I was once a heavy coffee drinker who would consume no less than two (tall) cups of coffee a day. It wasn't until last year, when I was diagnosed with pre-hypertension, that I had to minimize my coffee intake as per my doctor's orders.

Well, my doctor actually wanted me to stop drinking coffee altogether if possible, but that would be shooting for the moon (especially now that it's sticker season at Starbucks, lol). And so I made a compromise with my doctor that instead of having coffee for my night cap, I'll just drink tea instead. This trade-off introduced me to a variety of tea brands in the market and a plethora of tea flavors.

My latest tea discovery is this new tea brand which goes by the name of Sekaya. It's actually an acronym for 'Sentro ng Katutubong Yaman', an affiliate of the country's leading medical and pharmaceutical company, Unilab. Sekaya's goal is to develop natural medicinal products based on science by utilizing the country's rich diversity. And with that, an assortment of botanic infusions was born.

Blogger mail from Sekaya! :)

I had the opportunity to try one of these botanic infusions thanks our friends from Unilab. They sent me this Sekaya Christmas Gift Pack, housed in a huge, drawer-like box. Inside is a carafe with infuser and a bottle of the Sekaya Botanic Infusion Aftermeal Treat.

Unboxing the Sekaya Christmas Gift Pack!
This set sells for Php 1800.

Unlike ordinary tea bags which I have been accustomed to, Botanic Infusions come in loose form. And as you steep this mixture of leaves, flowers, roots, and barks, they absorb water and expand as they infuse. This allows the water to flow through the mixture and extract a wide range of vitamins, minerals, flavors and aromas from them. No bitter after-taste, too!

The tea bottle, infuser, metal stopper, and the carafe.

Having been used to merely dipping tea bags in hot water for so long, it was such a joy to actually infuse tea, and breath in a refreshing scent as you see the tea leaves dance in water.

The leaflet which contains usage instructions.

The Aftermeal Treat is a combination of peppermint, chamomile flowers, licorice root, and cinnamon bark. It’s fragrant, minty, and sweet, and does a handful of nice things to the digestive system like calming stomach muscles, breaking down fats, improving bile flow, and reducing acid secretions. And as its name suggests, this Botanic Infusion is truly a great way to end a meal.

Aftermeal Treat, retails at Php 400.

There are 21 other variants in the Botanic Infusion line, which offer a variety of health benefits to the body. I'm even more curious with the taste of the other variants, because this Aftermeal Treat tastes really, really good. Even my brother loved it, saying that this is the best peppermint-flavored tea that he's tried so far.

Loose leaf is love.

Ditto on that. Loose leaf is truly the best way to enjoy tea, and Sekaya Botanic Infusion takes tea time to a whole new level. 

To know more about Sekaya Botanic Infusion, visit their official website.
To purchase their products, visit the Sekaya official store on Lazada.

Teatox Made Fun with Bayani Brew!

Whenever I visit the Human Heart Nature store in my area, I make it a point to buy a bottle or two (sometimes even more) of our all-time favorite Bayani Brew. My son loves this tea drink just as much, even saying that he prefers this over the usual powdered tea mixes. And that's a good thing because Bayani Brew is brewed from all-natural, proudly homegrown, pesticide-free crops.

However, Yue and I are limited to just one flavor - the classic Lemongrass Pandan, which is the only flavor available at Human Heart Nature Laguna. Thankfully, the Brew Crew granted Yue's wish to try the 'pink and yellow Bayani Brew' by sending us this gift pack which contained all three flavors of their teatox line.

Bayani Brew is love!

Priced 60% less than popular cleansing juices, Bayani Brew's detox teas - otherwise known as 'teatox' - helps flush out the toxins that accumulate in the body without the laxative effect. Brewed from organically grown greens, these teas don't just cleanse but also nourish the body with vitamins and minerals.

Staying true to its local farming roots, the new Bayani Brew variants draw inspiration from the healthy 'tsaa' (tea) recipes found all over the country. The brand uses primarily climate-resilient and perennially-grown crops such as lemongrass (tanglad), sweet potato tops (talbos ng kamote) and pandan. 

One serving of the classic Lemongrass Pandan Tea is enough to fulfill one's daily Vitamin C requirement. Lemongrass and pandan are traditionally used to cleanse the kidneys.

Lemongrass Pandan.

Shelf life, 2.5 months.

Meanwhile, the Sweet Potato Leaf tea isn't just delicious, it also helps lower blood sugar levels. Brewed with lemongrass and calamansi, each bottle contains more than 1/3 of one's daily iron requirement.

Sweet Potato Leaf.

Shelf life, 2 months.

Finally, there's the Moringa Dalandan Tea, currently my new favorite flavor in Bayani Brew's teatox line. It contains high doses of Vitamin C, calcium, and iron, and can help flush out toxins that accumulate in the liver over time.

Moringa Dalandan.

Shelf life, 1 month.

Bayani Brew's farm fresh tea drinks are organically farmed, low in calories, accessible, and now have longer shelf-life. The brand also promises to be 'sustainable from farm to bottle'. No pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used in farms, and crops are sourced at above-market prices. In addition, the bottles are made with eco-friendly materials. And by advocating the use of local ingredients, Bayani Brew hopes to help lift Filipino farmers and agricultural workers out of poverty.

Bayani Brew can be purchased at all Bo's Coffee and Human Nature branches nationwide. You can also get your Bayani Brew fix at major supermarkets and convenience stores such as Robinson's, Rustan's, Landers, and FamilyMart.

For more information about Bayani Brew, visit their official website.

Spotlight | Skinny Mint TeaTox.

And just like that, we're down to the last day of August! It's September tomorrow, and the next thing we know, it's almost Christmas! Now before this day officially ends, allow me to share with you my Skinny Mint TeaTox experience.

If you're following me on Instagram, then you've probably chanced upon my Skinny Mint photos and how this product has made me into a tea convert. (Insert expressions of shock here, haha!) It's no secret that I'm a coffeeholic, consuming no less than 2 cups of coffee a day. My mornings are never complete without my favorite cup of Joe, and I just have to have a cup of coffee beside me whenever I write or work on a blog post.

But after doing the Skinny Mint TeaTox program, I now look at tea in a different light. Would you believe that I now drink tea more often than coffee? Yep, and I owe it all to my Skinny Mint teatoxing. Their teas taste really good - so good that now I consider myself a 'tea person' as well. :)

The Skinny Mint 28 Day TeaTox Program.

What's teatox, you might ask. Simply put, it is tea + detox. It’s an effective and natural way to cleanse your body by drinking tea. Teatoxing helps you to boost your metabolism, flush out toxins, reduce bloating and burn fat. It's not a diet or a meal replacement, so yeah, you eat as you normally would and you need not deprive yourself of anything. Of course, it would be best if you eat clean and healthy, but I know the feeling of not being able to say no to pizza. Or doughnuts. Haha! :)

Now when you do the Skinny Mint TeaTox program, you get to drink two different blends of tea. There's the Morning Boost which you take before or during breakfast, while the other is the Night Cleanse, which you take every other night after dinner or before you hit the sack.

I love how these tea bags are not made of paper.
The bags don't stick to each other, and they don't rip apart.

The Morning Boost contains approximately 62 mg of caffeine, which is good since I don't think I can function properly without caffeine in my system.

Morning Boost to start your day. 

What the Morning Boost is made of.

Plus, it's made with all-natural ingredients, which are formulated to complement each other, with guaranteed effects. I know that for a fact because it was quite easy for me to fend off food cravings while I was teatoxing. :)

And what you get. :)

The Night Cleanse, on the other hand, helps to flush out toxins overnight. It has a laxative effect, which is the perfect way to wash away your guilt after indulging in heavy meals (goodbye, pizza, pasta, and potatoes, haha!).

Night Cleanse before bedtime.

The ingredients.

The promise.

I love how this tea made me sleep better at night, and how it made me feel less bloated. I also love the combination of ginger root and orange leaves in this blend - very soothing to the throat, and very aromatic, too!

It's been almost three weeks since my teatox program ended, and I'm quite happy with the results. 

I lost 3 kilograms with the program, which to me is pretty good considering that I did very little exercise during that period. Also, I got sick during the second week of my teatoxing - fever, cough, and colds and I blame the erratic Philippine weather for it - so I wasn't able to drink tea for about a week. (Thus extending my supposedly 28-day program.)

Say hello to my 17-year-old Elmo mug. 

The Night Cleanse is love. :)

I'm actually looking forward to doing another round with these Skinny Mint teas. There should be a 4-6 week break between each teatox, so I guess my system would be ready towards the end of September. Gotta shed a few more pounds before the holidays, you know! :)

Now if you would like to try the Skinny Mint TeaTox Program, simply visit the Skinny Mint website to order. You can pay via Paypal or with your Visa, Mastercard, or American Express credit card. The best part? It won't take an eternity to receive your order, and they ship worldwide for FREE!

Skinny Mint
US: 347-602-4551
Singapore: +65 6750 4478
United Kingdom: 020 7048 3339
Australia: (03) 9008 4282
hello@skinnymint.com