Celestial Seasonings

I’m with the sentimental lot on this one AND I really like cinnamon- lots of cinnamon- so I actually like this tea, no matter how “not cool” that makes me in liking a bag tea from…wait for it….Celestial Seasonings. I am old enuf to remember these folks when every flap of the box had poetry and sayings all over it and they had maybe 55 different kinds of tea in outrageous arty boxes. If you’ve ever been to Boulder this all makes sense. If I need a cup of warmth late at night with NO CAFFEINE or dieting and want NO SUGAR ADDED this is still my go to cheater tea.

Just delicious! Great for breakfast or right before bed.

I decided to give this a go tonight when scouring through a meager selection of tea at a meeting and was pleasantly surprised. Buttery, smooth, and sweet. It tastes like cookies in liquid form. I added milk and sugar (which probably helped accentuate the flavors tremendously) and it suited me perfectly as a nice after dinner dessert.

This is my moct favorite tea to make Suntea with in the summer time , otherwise it’s to sweet.it make the most balanced sun tea ever

I’m really enjoying this tea right now. The lemon and hibiscus are playing nicely without being too tart. Sort of soothing and energizing at the same time. Enough so that I’m actually upping my rating by a few points.

sipdown

Lately, I keep falling asleep without finishing my bedtime tea. It’s a shame to waste good tea that way, so I’ve decided to switch to the inexpensive, readily available stuff.

I’ve had positive experiences with this tea before. Last night it just tasted like tart hibiscus. Wayyyy too much hibiscus. I’m not sure why it tasted so different this time from previous times, but it’s definitely not an improvement. Oh, well.

I’m generally not a huge fan of Celestial Seasonings, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I quite like this tea. The instructions say to steep in boiling water for 4-6 minutes. At the 4 minute mark, it was a delightful blend of lemon and sweetness (almost honey-like). At the 10 minute mark, it was overwhelmingly lemony, to the point that I began to regret not taking the teabag out. But surprise! At the 15 minute mark, it reverted to a nice balance of tart and sweet. I like this for an afternoon tea if you’re looking for a little kick but don’t want caffeine.

Experimented with this today. Was wondering if I combined this with almond syrup, if I could replicate the old Celestial Seasonings Almond Sunset with milk and sugar that I used to drink as a kid with my mom in the afternoons. The answer is YES! Tastes just like it. I used Fabbri brand syrup.

Now that I’m into real tea, I don’t think I’ll crave this too often, but it’s a nice non-caffeinated dessert drink. The Roastaroma on its own is an interesting, malty beverage with lots of body and no astringency or bitterness.

Downing some of this before sleepy time tonight. I feel the tension melting away as I drink it. Could be placebo effect, but whatever… It is a nice soothing, pre-sleep tea. I just leave the bag in until I’m done. No harm in it.

This is the only herbal I drink. Helps me relax when I’m feeling too wired to go to bed. So… that said… goodnight, internet!

It’s a sweet tea and it’s quite good for cozying up with along with a good book and a soft blanket. For some reason, it kinda tasted like buttered toast a little bit for me…

Very lemony… Just how I like it :D

Is perfect with honey for battling out a sore throat.

Well, it seems my Celestial Seasonings days might be numbered. I quite liked this one when I first started drinking it a few years ago, but now that I’ve taken up reviewing teas and am becoming a bit more discerning…

When I moved overseas in 2011 I brought the remainder of my open box with me to have as a spicy, comforting drink before bed. I took to brewing it strong (2 teabags to a cup, sometimes left to steep for 20 minutes or more – bad habit, I know) with a good dose of milk and sugar. I ran out by the end of the year and wasn’t able to acquire another box until I visited my parents this Christmas.

So tonight I decided to fix up a cup like I used to: 2 bags, but only for 4 minutes this time. Took a sip before I added anything… okay, but I wouldn’t want to drink a whole cup like this. Ended up adding a teaspoon of sugar, a squeeze of agave, and several tablespoons of soymilk to get it to my liking. Even with all the additions it made my mouth and throat tingle, which I suspect was the black pepper. I’ll play around with it some more and see if I can coax some other flavors out.

This is my go to green tea because I’m cheap and it’s pretty fool proof. I’ve left the bag in my cup for hours, and it hasn’t gotten bitter on me or changed the flavor. I use my Keurig to heat the water, let it cool for a few seconds, and then dump a bag in, add honey (or a teaspoon of sugar) and go. It has a light taste to it that I like, and don’t get sick of. I don’t think I’ve ever had a scent problem with it like I have had with others. Overall, I just really like this tea.

I can drink this, but I have to force myself to. I like my green teas plain, and the citrus is too overbearing for me and leaves a weird taste in my mouth. It also doesn’t work well with honey, which is how I like to sweeten green tea. Aside from the taste, it is smooth and pretty fool proof to make. I’m pretty lazy and usually use my Keurig to brew my hot water. I have experienced some bitterness when I leave the bag in too long (which I’m too lazy to take it out, especially when I go out).

Simple Chai this morning. Not too great on my sore throat, but I was tired of Chamomile.

We meet at last, Candy Cane Lane. As a peppermint junkie I’ve wanted to try this forever: I went to 6 different grocery stores during the holiday season and not a single one had the CS seasonal blends! What the heck. But thanks to a swap with Marcel Duchamp I am finally trying this one out!

Piping hot this really just tastes like peppermint, I was a little disappointed. No vanilla, definitely no cinnamon! But I let it cool a bit as I was reading and once it was hot but not too hot the magic happened. Peppermint, vanilla, cinnamon, oh my! This reminds me of Santa’s Secret and Della Terra’s Peppermint Bark, only a bit softer (because of the green base instead of black) and the cinnamon gives it a really warming feeling.

This is so good! Like, outrageously good for a bagged tea. I usually have Twinning’s Peppermint on-hand for when I need a bagged mint but I think I will be swapping it out for this. I mean, it has everything! Super minty and refreshing, smooth vanilla, warming cinnamon, plus it’s decaf. Yum!

I picked this one up last night because I’ve been craving lemon tea. It was $2.50 a box. I was supremely disappointed to find that most store brands aren’t just straight up lemon (which is what I wanted). There were many more honey or spice variations though. I think I’ve had this one before, but I was unsure. The smell of this one is very strong! It smells a bit like cleaner if I try to sniff to much…but also like these lemon+honey cough drops that I had recently. To be honest this freaks me out a bit. A small note: this also seems to have an added 20% vit. C. O.o interesting move there.
This is…interesting. I think what is wrong here is that yes, it is pretty artificial tasting. The ginseng is the most distracting part of the whole cuppa because it imparts this kind of granular taste/feel that I only like with particular teas. The first half of the sip really isn’t that bad and the lemon takes the forefront. It is when you realize that the other players (honey and lemon) want in on the gig that it is a bit unpleasant. The white tea in there really isn’t helping either. If I was sick I bet this would be great because it is kind of soothing on the throat and I wouldn’t be able to taste it so well…

Smooth and calming, even the act of making a cup of Sleepy Time starts to relax me

This tea is perfect for when you have a sore throat! It always makes my throat feel a million times better! I love the combination of the apple and the chamomile. They really compliment each other well.

This is a perfect ending to a long day of class, meetings, and homework. It has a nice vanilla flavor that isn’t too overpowering, as well as a sweet aroma. I can pick up the notes of chamomile as well as the spearmint along with the vanilla flavor. It puts me in the perfect sleepytime mood!

I am prone to migraine headaches. Very bad ones. My vision goes and I can barely move. I’ve been searching for a natural remedy for years because stuffing myself full of aspirin and sleeping it off just wasn’t working. A friend suggested trying peppermint tea. I don’t know why and she didn’t either. But it works. A couple of sips of this tea and my migraine was gone.

Even without the migraine eradicating properties—for which I am eternally grateful—-this was a lovely cup of tea. Flavorful and simple yet tasty. It was also quite strong with the mint which I really appreciated. I didn’t add any sweetener this time around but a pinch of rock sugar or honey would be lovely.

I did oversteep this by quite a bit because I needed it to be super strong but normally I’d steep it for 4 or 5 minutes.

Another holiday blend from the Traveling Tea Box! It’s funny that Candy Cane Lane seems to get such amazing reviews (and I finally have a sample of it to try, hooray!) but the rest of them have low ratings. I was disappointed in the Nutcracker blend but I must persevere!

This is, hmm, interesting. Doesn’t taste a whole lot like gingerbread, though there is definitely ginger and cinnamon in here. But I am tasting this odd almost chocolatey element which sounds like it would be good but it’s oddly fake and waxy. And at the end of the sip it’s sour for some reason? I greatly prefer the Bigelow Gingerbread one, this is just a little funky.

I really miss this one!