Short answer. While chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is the standard commercial evening tea; mountain tea (Sideritis scardica / çaj mali) is a different cup, and the evidence for it is about attention and anxiety rather than sleep. A 2018 double-blind trial (Wightman et al., Nutrients 2018;10(8):955) gave a standardised Sideritis scardica extract to 140 adults aged 50–70 for 28 days and measured improved attention accuracy and a large reduction in state anxiety at 950 mg — it did not measure sleep onset, sleep quality, or morning grogginess. We cite what was measured. What the cup reliably offers is a naturally caffeine-free, non-bitter infusion for the evening, which we think is enough.

What has been measured in each cup

Chamomile's evening reputation rests on a long sedative tradition; the mechanism most discussed for it is apigenin interacting with benzodiazepine-site receptors, which is laboratory pharmacology rather than a clinical sleep trial we can cite here.

For mountain tea the human evidence is different and specific: a 2018 double-blind trial (Wightman et al., Nutrients 2018;10(8):955) of a standardised Sideritis scardica extract in 140 adults aged 50–70 measured improved attention accuracy, a large reduction in state anxiety at 950 mg (d = 0.75), and acute cerebral blood-flow increases on day 1. It did not measure sleep. There is also no trial comparing the two cups head to head, and we will not invent one. If you are choosing between them for the evening, the useful facts are simpler: chamomile has the longer sedative tradition, mountain tea has measured anxiety and attention data plus no naturally occurring caffeine, and both brew well.

Brewing the evening cup

To prepare çaj mali for the evening: place 2 to 3 whole flowering stems into 500 ml of cold spring water in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, simmer covered on low heat for 3 minutes, and allow it to settle for 2 minutes off the heat.

Pour the luminous gold broth plain, or stir in half a teaspoon of raw mountain honey.

Explore our whole-stem harvests in the Albanian Ritual Shop.