Acid Calm - Herbal Infusion | Fennel, Tulsi, Ajwain, Mint

What's inside — and why the form matters

Coriander Seed — crushed

Coriandrum sativum. Dhania, crushed to open the seed. A coriander seed is essentially a small hollow sphere with the aromatic oils held inside the shell — leave it whole and hot water simply runs past it. Crushed, it releases linalool and the soft citrus-floral note that sits underneath this whole blend.

Dhania is one of those ingredients Indian kitchens treat as cooling rather than warming, and soaked coriander water is a household habit older than any product category. Crushing is what lets a three-minute steep do in minutes what an overnight soak does slowly.

Ajwain — crushed

Trachyspermum ammi. Carom seed, crushed, and present in small quantity for good reason. Ajwain is one of the most assertive things in any Indian spice box — its thymol content gives it that sharp, almost medicinal bite you know instantly from the smell.

Why so little of it: ajwain doesn't need much. A heavier hand would flatten the coriander, tulsi and cardamom entirely and leave you with a cup that tastes like a remedy rather than a drink. Crushed and used sparingly, it sits at the back and gives the blend its edge. A pinch of ajwain with warm water after a heavy meal is a habit most Indian households already keep — this is that, in proportion.

Tulsi — cut leaf

Ocimum tenuiflorum. Holy basil, cut and not powdered. Tulsi's character lives in volatile oils — eugenol chief among them — that begin escaping the moment the leaf is broken down too far. Powdered tulsi smells of very little by the time it reaches you. Cut leaf holds onto its aroma in the packet and gives it up in the cup.

Few plants are as ordinary and as revered in India at once. It grows in courtyards, it's watered before it's used, and it has been drunk in water for as long as anyone has been writing things down here.

Stevia — cut leaf

Stevia rebaudiana. This is the whole dried leaf, cut — not the refined white powder sold as a sweetener, which is a purified extract several hundred times sweeter than sugar and a genuinely different ingredient.

Why the leaf and not the extract: the extract is an isolated compound; the leaf is a plant, and it behaves like one in an infusion. It brings a gentle sweetness with a faint green note rather than the sharp, slightly metallic edge people often dislike in refined stevia. It also means this blend stays what we say it is — ten plants, cut and crushed, and nothing else.

Mulethi (Liquorice) — fine cut

Glycyrrhiza glabra. Liquorice root, cut fine so it can release inside a three-minute steep — in larger pieces the woody root gives up almost nothing. It adds to the sweetness alongside the stevia leaf.

Mulethi is a familiar root in Indian homes and a potent one. Please read the honest note below before making this a daily habit, particularly if you take anything for blood pressure.

Fennel — lightly crushed · Saunf, cracked just enough to open the seed coat. Crushed harder it would dominate everything else in the cup.

Cumin — crushed · Jeera, crushed to break the hard outer coat that would otherwise survive the steep intact.

Cardamom — crushed · Green pods cracked to expose the seeds. Aroma releases inside the first minute.

Mint — cut leaf · Cut so the leaf keeps its structure and its cooling finish.

Lemon Peel — cut · Dried peel. Its oils lift the whole blend and keep it from tasting heavy.

Why an infusion, not a capsule

Crushed, cut, or left alone — decided per ingredient. Grinding everything uniform would be cheaper. It would also let the ajwain overwhelm the cup, strip the tulsi of its aroma and turn the whole thing dusty. Seeds are cracked. Leaves and peel are cut. The mulethi root is cut fine because it's dense. Ten ingredients, three treatments.

Hot water is an extraction method, not just a vehicle. Steeping pulls water-soluble compounds into a form your gut meets already dissolved. Nothing has to break down first — no capsule shell, no tablet coating, no compression to reverse.

Nothing in here that isn't a plant. No binders, no fillers, no flow agents, no magnesium stearate, no gelatin. No refined sweetener either — the sweetness comes from a cut leaf and a cut root, not a powder.

This is a version of what people already do. Saunf after a meal. Jeera in water. A pinch of ajwain. Tulsi in the morning. None of it is new. What a blend does is make it consistent, which is the part most people can't sustain on their own.

Pyramid bags, not flat. A flat bag presses 2.5–3g into a wafer and water struggles to circulate. The pyramid gives cut leaf and cracked seed room to move.

The bag breaks down. Biodegradable mesh, not nylon or PET. No plastic, and no microplastic shedding into hot water.

How to brew it

1. Place one infusion bag in a cup.
2. Add hot water, not boiling — let freshly boiled water rest for a minute. Boiling water drives off the tulsi and lemon peel oils before you get to them.
3. Steep for 3 minutes.
4. Remove and drink.

Each bag takes a second steep at 5 minutes, though the first cup is the better one.

Our recommendation: one cup after a meal, up to three cups a day. Acid Calm sits inside sensible eating habits — regular hours, nothing too heavy too late, decent hydration. It doesn't replace any of that. Give it one to two months of consistent use. Herbal ingredients work on the timescale of habits, not doses.

If you plan to drink it daily over a long stretch, read the note on mulethi below first.

Ingredients

Fennel (lightly crushed), Coriander seed (crushed), Cumin (crushed), Tulsi (cut), Mint (cut), Cardamom (crushed), Ajwain (crushed), Liquorice (fine cut), Lemon peel (cut), Stevia (cut).

100% herbal · Caffeine free · Naturally sweetened with whole stevia leaf · No added sugar · No artificial flavours · No preservatives · Gluten free · Vegan

Net quantity: 60 infusion bags (150–180g) / 90 infusion bags (225–270g)

An honest note

Acid Calm is a natural food product meant to sit inside sensible everyday habits — regular meals, nothing too heavy too late, good hydration. It is not a medicine, not an antacid, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition.

On mulethi specifically. Liquorice root is a traditional ingredient and a potent one. Consumed in quantity over long periods, glycyrrhizin is known to affect blood pressure and potassium levels in some people. Please keep to the three-cups-a-day guidance rather than exceeding it, and speak to your doctor first if you have high blood pressure, heart or kidney concerns, low potassium, or take medication for any of those. If you also drink our Gut Reset, note that it contains mulethi too — count your cups across both.

On mint. This blend contains mint, and mint doesn't suit everyone. If you have been diagnosed with reflux or GERD, ask your doctor before drinking it regularly — mint is one of the things commonly discussed in that context, and your physician knows your situation.

If you are on prescribed medication, under medical supervision, pregnant or nursing, speak to your doctor before adding this to your routine. Continue your prescribed treatment as directed.