Throat Coat Blend

Throat Coat Blend is level 0 on our caffeine scale: there is no Camellia sinensis in the cup, only licorice root, slippery elm bark and marshmallow root. The catalog brews it at 100 °C for 9 minutes with 3 g per cup — longer than most herbals, because roots and bark give up their mucilage slowly — describes the flavor as sweet, earthy and mild, and places it in the evening or at any time of day. Covering the cup while it steeps keeps the heat in, which is what the long steep needs.

The European Medicines Agency's Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products lists marshmallow root, exclusively on the basis of long-standing use, as a demulcent for the symptomatic treatment of oral or pharyngeal irritation and associated dry cough, and for the symptomatic relief of mild gastrointestinal discomfort. The tea form it describes is not ours: 0.5 to 3 g of cut root in 150 ml of water as a cold macerate, several times a day, and the macerate used right after it is made. The monograph does not recommend the root under 3 for the throat indication or under 12 for the gastrointestinal one, says to see a doctor if throat symptoms last more than a week or if breathlessness, fever or purulent sputum appear, and, because the mucilage may delay the absorption of other medicines, advises not taking it half an hour to an hour before or after any other medicine. It records no known side effects and no reported interactions, and does not recommend use during pregnancy and breastfeeding for lack of data. It covers marshmallow root alone, not combinations like this blend.

Source: EMA/HMPC — European Union herbal monograph on Althaea officinalis L., radix (2016)

The same committee's monograph on licorice root, revised in 2026, lists the root exclusively on the basis of long-standing use for the relief of digestive symptoms including burning sensation and dyspepsia, and as an expectorant in cough associated with cold. Its tea form is 1.5 to 2 g of cut root in 150 ml of boiling water, two to four times a day after meals, for no more than four weeks. It does not recommend licorice under 18, or for people with hypertension, kidney disease, liver or cardiovascular disorders or low potassium, who it says are more sensitive to its adverse effects; it warns against taking other licorice-containing products at the same time, because serious adverse events such as water retention, low potassium, high blood pressure and heart rhythm disorders may occur; it says licorice may counteract blood-pressure medication and should not be combined with diuretics, cardiac glycosides, corticosteroids or stimulant laxatives; and it does not recommend use during pregnancy, in women who could become pregnant and are not using contraception, or while breastfeeding. Overdoses reported after more than four weeks or high amounts included those same effects. A quarter of a 3 g serving is licorice: well under the monograph's single dose, but the four-week limit is the reason we treat this blend as a cold-months cup, not a daily one.

Source: EMA/HMPC — European Union herbal monograph on Glycyrrhiza glabra L., G. inflata Bat., G. uralensis Fisch., radix, revision 1 (2026)

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health considers licorice root generally safe as a food ingredient, and says there is not enough high-quality evidence to clearly support its use for any health condition; a licorice gargle or lozenge before surgery might lessen the sore throat that follows intubation, and whether licorice-only products have any effect on digestive symptoms is unclear. On safety it is blunter: glycyrrhizin can cause serious effects such as irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest, especially in large amounts or over the long term; even small amounts have been linked to severe effects in people who eat a lot of salt or have hypertension or heart or kidney conditions; interactions with corticosteroids have been reported; large amounts in pregnancy (about 250 g a week) are unsafe and raise the risk of delivery before 38 weeks; and little is known about breastfeeding. Put that next to the agency cards above and the practical rule is short: if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have high blood pressure or a heart, kidney or liver condition, or take any medication, ask a healthcare provider before making this blend a habit, or brew the licorice-free version below. This isn't medical advice — if you have a specific condition, check with a healthcare provider.

Source: NCCIH — Licorice Root (2025)

Slippery elm is the inner bark of Ulmus rubra, usually sold as a fine powder, and it is the ingredient that thickens this blend the most: its mucilage swells in water, which is why a 9-minute steep comes out almost silky and why the powder has to be stored away from steam. Unlike marshmallow and licorice, slippery elm has no European Union herbal monograph, and the US reference pages we accept as sources had none available when we checked, so we make no statement about what it does — only about how it tastes (mild, faintly nutty, bark-like) and how it behaves in hot water.

Glycyrrhizin, the intensely sweet compound in licorice root, rounds out the earthy, slightly mucilaginous flavor of slippery elm and marshmallow, so the blend needs little or no added sugar to taste pleasant. It is the same compound the two licorice cards above are about, which is why the sweeter, licorice-forward version below is the one to keep occasional.