Herbal tea blends get sold on vibes a lot of the time — "calming," "soothing," "designed for rest." If you're looking for the best tea for sleep, we wanted to know if the ingredients in our own rest and digest tea, Nightfall, actually hold up against clinical research, not just tradition. So we looked. Here's what the evidence says about each one.
For sleep and calm
Chamomile has the deepest evidence base of anything in this blend. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis pooling ten clinical trials found chamomile meaningfully improved sleep quality scores, particularly reducing nighttime awakenings — though it didn't clearly extend total sleep duration. A separate 2019 meta-analysis of RCTs found a significant improvement in sleep quality and generalized anxiety, with less consistent evidence for situational anxiety or diagnosed insomnia specifically. (Study, 2024; Study, Phytotherapy Research, 2019)
Lemon balm has real trial support too. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis found lemon balm significantly improved both anxiety and depressive symptom scores compared to placebo across the pooled trials. (Study, Phytotherapy Research, 2021)
Lemon verbena is newer to the research and less studied than chamomile or lemon balm, but a 2024 randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 71 healthy subjects with sleep disturbances found daily supplementation over 90 days significantly improved sleep quality, sleep latency, and sleep efficiency, along with increased nocturnal melatonin levels. (Study, 2024)
For digestion
Ginger has one of the largest evidence bases of any digestive herb, particularly for nausea. A 2014 systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 RCTs (1,278 participants) found ginger significantly reduced nausea compared to placebo, and it's separately well-supported for chemotherapy- and pregnancy-related nausea specifically — though effect sizes vary depending on the type of nausea being studied. (Study, Nutrition Journal, 2014)
Fennel has a real but more mixed evidence base. Systematic reviews of herbal remedies for IBS have included fennel-containing preparations with some positive signal for bloating and abdominal discomfort, but most trials combine fennel with other botanicals (like curcumin or peppermint oil), which makes it hard to isolate fennel's effect on its own — so we're not going to pretend the case is stronger than it is. (Review, 2025)
Liquorice root gets the most careful treatment of anything in this blend: whole liquorice root (which is what's used in food-grade tea blends like ours, not the deglycyrrhizinated "DGL" extract used in some supplements) has been studied for functional dyspepsia with a positive result in at least one placebo-controlled trial. But a 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis also found consistent liquorice intake is associated with increased blood pressure and lowered potassium levels. In the small quantity present in a single cup of tea this isn't something most people need to worry about, but anyone with high blood pressure, kidney issues, or who is pregnant should be aware. (Study, Journal of Human Hypertension, 2017)
What we're not claiming
Turkish apple pieces, strawberry pieces, sweet blackberry leaves, and Egyptian marigold flowers are in Nightfall primarily for flavor and aroma — we're not aware of clinical evidence specific to these in the amounts used in a tea blend, and we're not going to invent a health claim for them just because they're natural.
A caveat that applies to everything above: most of these studies used concentrated extracts or supplement doses, not a cup of brewed tea. A cup of Nightfall isn't a clinical dose of any single ingredient — think of it as a genuinely evidence-informed choice for winding down, not a substitute for treating a real sleep or digestive disorder.
Nightfall: The Best Tea for Sleep and Digestion
Nightfall blends all five of the ingredients above — chamomile, lemon balm, ginger, fennel, and liquorice root — with lemon verbena, apple, strawberry, blackberry leaves, and marigold for a flavor profile that tastes like a warm evening on a veranda: strawberry and apple sweetness, floral chamomile and lemon verbena, a gentle bite of ginger, and a soft finish of vanilla and liquorice. It's caffeine-free.
Try Nightfall for yourself
Shop Nightfall — Rest & Digest Herbal Tea For the full herbal lineup, browse our Herbal Teas collection.
