Immunity Blend

Immunity Blend is level 0 on our caffeine scale: there is no Camellia sinensis in the cup, only echinacea, ginger and lemon, with rosehip and elderberry in the fuller version. The catalog brews it at 98 °C for 10 minutes with 3 g per cup — longer than most herbals, because ginger root and rosehip are dense — describes the flavor as spiced, citrusy and warm, and places it in the morning, mid-morning or after a meal. A lid on the cup keeps the ginger's heat and the lemon's aroma from drifting off while it steeps.

The European Medicines Agency's Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products has evaluated purple coneflower herb in one oral form only: the juice pressed from the fresh flowering plant, which it lists for the short-term prevention and treatment of the common cold, for no more than 10 days, starting at the first signs. The same monograph does not recommend that juice under 12, during pregnancy and breastfeeding unless a doctor advises it, or in autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency, immunosuppression and diseases of the white blood cell system; it contraindicates it for anyone hypersensitive to plants of the daisy family (Asteraceae), and warns of a possible risk of severe allergic reactions in atopic patients. A tea of dried aerial parts is not the product the agency evaluated, and a cup of this blend is not a measured dose of anything.

Source: EMA/HMPC — European Union herbal monograph on Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench, herba recens (2014)

Cochrane's 2014 review of echinacea for colds gathered 24 double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with 4,631 participants. None of the 12 prevention comparisons that counted people catching at least one cold found a statistically significant difference, although an after-the-fact pooling suggested a relative risk reduction of 10% to 20%; of the seven treatment trials that reported how long colds lasted, only one showed a significant effect over placebo. The authors concluded that echinacea products have not been shown to provide benefits for treating colds, that a weak benefit from some products is possible, and that any effect is of questionable clinical relevance. The trials tested a wide range of preparations made from different species and plant parts; none of that tells you what a cup of this blend does.

Source: Cochrane — Karsch-Völk et al., Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold (2014)

The same committee's monograph on ginger root, revised in 2025, lists powdered ginger for the prevention of nausea and vomiting in motion sickness and, exclusively on the basis of long-standing use, for the symptomatic relief of motion sickness, mild spasmodic digestive complaints including bloating and flatulence, temporary loss of appetite, minor joint pain and the symptoms of the common cold. The forms it covers are powdered root and ethanol tinctures, not tea. Use under 18 has not been established for most of those indications (under 6 for motion sickness); the monograph prefers to avoid ginger during pregnancy as a precaution, does not recommend it while breastfeeding, lists no known interactions, and records stomach upset, belching, indigestion, heartburn and nausea as common undesirable effects. In this cup, ginger is here for its heat.

Source: EMA/HMPC — European Union herbal monograph on Zingiber officinale Roscoe, rhizoma, revision 1 (2025)

USDA FoodData Central lists wild rose hips, raw, at 426 mg of vitamin C per 100 g. That figure describes the fresh fruit, not a cup: it does not say how much reaches hot water from dried, cracked rosehip that makes up a tenth of a 3 g serving, and we have not measured it either, so we don't put a vitamin C number on this blend. What rosehip reliably brings to the cup is tartness and a red color.

Source: USDA FoodData Central — Rose Hips, wild (Northern Plains Indians), SR Legacy 168998

If you add elderberry, buy it from a food-grade herb supplier and never use berries picked raw. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes that raw or unripe elderberries and other parts of the elder tree contain cyanide-producing substances that can cause nausea, vomiting and severe diarrhea, that cooking eliminates this toxin, and that little is known about the safety of elderberry for health purposes during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Put that next to the echinacea and ginger cards above and the practical rule is short: if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, allergic to daisy-family plants, or taking any medication, ask a healthcare provider before making this blend a habit, or brew the echinacea-free version below. This isn't medical advice — if you have a specific condition, check with a healthcare provider.

Source: NCCIH — European Elder (Elderberry)