When browsing the tea section at your local market, you are often presented with odd names like ‘Relaxation Oasis’ or absurd blends like ‘Raspberry Coconut’. The existing tea selection made me all the more curious about the brand Teatox. The cool packaging and minimalistic design spoke to me immediately, the promise of ‘Natural Defense’ or ‘Skinny Detox’ alluring me as well.

Michael Decker and Felix Ilse, both 27 years old, are the minds behind the startup. They are world travelers, having been part of a student exchange program in Asia at the mere age of 13. That’s when they had their first contact with the traditional tea culture. During his semester abroad in Taiwan, Michael learned how to meditate from Zen Monks, who also introduced him to matcha Tea. The monks serve this beverage right before meditation, as it keeps you alert and concentrated. The young student was more than just a bit impressed. After returning home, he and his school friend Felix, who had discovered mate tea in Argentina, decided to develop a cool, healthy tea brand.

Teatox founders Felix Ilse and Michael Decker

Tea for the digital natives

Felix and Michael, both studying business administration, quickly noticed the outdated image of tea in Germany. “It was a real challenge to design a tea that attracts young people,” Felix tells us. This rings especially true when the younger generation generally associates healing teas with medicine and pharmacies.

So they founded their startup Teatox in 2013, with the aim of developing tea blends “for the body, mind and soul,” says Felix. The outcome was Energy Matcha for better concentration and Daily Balance for tranquility. Later on, they created Pure Beauty, a tea mixture with a base of white tea, which benefits the skin and is supposed to give you a glowing complexion. Then came Power Detox, a reviving tea with guarana, cayenne pepper and aronia berries, and lastly Natural Defense – a mild, fruity tea rich in vitamin C and essential oils.

When you listen to Felix talk, you immediately notice that the health benefits tea can provide are of great importance to him.
“Tea is our source for health and energy,” he says. In collaboration with natural health professionals, nutritionists and tea experts, they collect all the information on the natural virtues of different leaves, herbs and fruits. “Our concept relies on the right composition of ingredients which stimulate the body, mind and soul, to then create a balance between the three. Additionally, all our teas are certified as organic.”

Ingredients for their blends can vary from horsetail herb and cornflower petals, to blue verveine, echinacea, olive leafs and pineapple. “Pineapple doesn’t just taste good, it’s also rich in trace elements and vitamins,” says Felix. The teas should not only be beneficial to your health, but also taste delicious, with ingredients being gathered from around the globe. Green tea is sourced from China, Rooibos from South Africa and mate from South America, with some petals, flowers and herbs cultivated from within Germany.

The oldest herb factory in Germany is located close to lake Constance. This is where the tea blends are mixed, tasted and then sent to Berlin, where the chic little tin cans Teatox is known for are filled with the teas. As of now, Teatox employs 25 people, the teas being available in 18 countries. You can also find eight of their blends, including their new Superfood Powder, in over 400 stores across Germany.

Detox tea with a guidebook

Every tea comes with a guidebook, full of information, recipes and exercise plans for a healthier life. The Teatox concept behind the Skinny Detox set is easy to explain. The detox kit consists of two teas, the Good Morning Tea, which stimulates your metabolism with goji berries, sencha tea and yerba mate, and the Good Night Tea, with peppermint, yarrow and lemon balm to calm you down and help you sleep. Both are complemented with a diet plan that tells you all about the detox-do’s-and-don’ts, and offer some fun recipes to try.

“We don’t consider ourselves dogmaticians, wagging an all-knowingly finger about dieting and such,” Felix adds. The goal of the detox teas is not to restrict after all, but to diversify your diet.

There are a quite a few coffee junkies within their office, and Felix himself cannot go a morning without a great cappuccino. At the same time, he swears by matcha tea. “It’s way more gentle to your stomach and body.” The added bonus is that matcha tends to release its caffeine over the course of several hours, instead of the caffeine shot that coffee drinkers are used to, trembling hands accompanying the quick boost of energy. “I usually try to drink matcha right after lunch, this way skipping over an afternoon dip,” the expert says.

Testing the Teatox teas

The first tea I tried was Natural Defense. It contains pomegranate, ginger and echniacea, with pomegranate delivering an extra punch of vitamin C . The 50 grams of roots, wooden chips and flower petals look more like a witch’s magic potion than an actual tea. The concoction smells divine however, like lemon, and tastes marvelous. After a few days of regular consumption, my runny nose and scratchy throat just disappeared. My conclusion: a rather magical tea, which also tastes great.

After talking to Felix, I immediately ordered the Energy Matcha and tried it out after my lunch one day. Unfortunately, I made a the beginner’s mistake and poured water that was about 80 degrees Celsius hot (caution: boiling water turns matcha bitter) directly onto the powder. This immediately lead to clumps, making the mixture undrinkable. Since then, I’ve learned how to use a matcha broom. My preferred method is to pour just a bit of water while at the same time whisking the powder, and as soon as I have a smooth paste, to then fill up my cup with the remaining water.

The whole procedure became my little tea ceremony. I actually don’t get tired in the afternoon anymore and find it easier to remain concentrated on work tasks well until the evening. Another advantage: the matcha tea provides me with a whole bunch of important vitamins, like catechin, carotin as well as vitamin A, B, C and E. As a result of the high volume of antioxidants – 137 times higher than regular green tea contains – the matcha helps to fight signs of aging and serves as a natural protector against outside influences. This is how I drink myself into beauty and health every afternoon – Thanks to Teatox.