Celestial Seasonings

It tastes just like chamomile. I like more flavors blended in my tea. Fine to drink if free but will not buy it again.

A nice mellow tea for evening or sickness.

I have tried the K-cup and tea bag. Both are frequently offered in office settings and a reliable choice. Resilient to many temperatures and steeping times. Vibrant lemon flavor.

In my mind, I’m running through clichéd polarities to describe where I sit with this brew.

Dry bag smells sickeningly sweet, dark and very spicy molasses gingerbread.

The steam is pretty similar but much brighter. Spicy ginger and fake maple (think donut icing) and something fruity like dates. I wonder how much of a role the monkfruit plays in this.

Taste is… It’s pure aroma. The only thing I truly taste is spicy, warming ginger and watery sweetness. I do taste spicy, woody cinnamon at the bottom of the cup.

Strange aftertaste kind of reminds me of Bengal Spice. Ginger burps. The aromas are stuck to my face and hair and in my nostrils.

I can’t figure out why I think I might like it. I drank two teabags in a row.

Edit: Definite nope.

Two tea bags I received from derk. Thank you!

In aroma it indeed reminds me maple syrup, at least that one I was lucky enough to try in Finland (cheap stuff, it was said it is from Canada, supermarket brand). It was my first and last experience with it, and it is actually 4 years old one. But when I smelled it, it was exactly that. Ah well Vaahterasiirappi .

Anyway back to Czech Republic. It’s quite cold, around 10°C only, cloudy and I need some tea which reminds me this! And this looks most promising.

The aroma, as I said, reminds me maple syrup. Little bit of ginger, but luckily not that much.

Taste is more watery than I thought. But it is maple-y for sure, little heat of ginger is there as well. Quite sweet, but somehow expected. Warming inside, smooth and coating the throat which is welcomed in this chilly weather. I feel quite chilly as well though we are heating up.

It is pleasant tea to these days.

I love this tea, it’s perfect and tastes amazing.

I’m not 100% sure what pushed me to pick this off the shelves at my local grocery store – I am not a mint tea person, and I’ve had too many bad run-ins with teas attempting to recreate a chocolate flavor. One typically overpowers the other. Not only that, but the cinnamon and cardamom intrigued me – I can see it complementing dark or milk chocolate for a chai type of deal, but white chocolate? In white tea? Whatever may be the case, I picked it up. Call me one of those girls who picks up anything with spice at the mere hint of chillier weather (still in the high 80’s here!), I tossed it in my cart and began to wonder if I would regret it. Still, at only $2 something, I wasn’t too worried.
Well wow, was I blown away. This is the perfect tea to drink when it’s rainy and cool out. Even if it’s still a Texas summer, but maybe it’s cloudy for a change. Regardless, it somehow worked! The white tea is mostly in the background, making sure none of it is too heady or acidic. The white chocolate is prominent, and somehow enhanced by the cinnamon and cardamom notes. If you’re worried about the cardamom, don’t be – the spice level is still low in this, everything just compliments the other. Lastly, the peppermint peeps in to steal the show. I primarily dislike mint teas because they upset my stomach (acid reflux is NOT a joke), but this doesn’t have the intense minty-ness of typical teas. The mint here makes this a Christmastime classic. Like peppermint bark!
Anyway, enough of that. I also love that there is little caffeine in this. Despite my adoration of black teas, dealing with some health issues has left me on a white tea kick. I still do not enjoy herbal teas, which is why I was so taken aback by this one. Celestial Seasonings is typically a brand I associate with herbal teas, and they’re usually too flowery for me or they work better as iced teas. This one is perfect hot, and I was so excited that this is the one white tea I’ve seen from them! Needless to say, you should pick yourself up a box. I already bought two more in anticipation of winter time!

This is the tea I always turn to when my stomach isn’t feeling so hot.

As for brewing method, I don’t really pay attention, just drop a tea bag into my cup of boiling water, then drop my spoon on it to make it sink to the bottom of the cup, poke at the tea bag a few times after it’s been steeping a while, then start sipping away like 10 minutes later once it’s cool enough to drink. I don’t even bother to take out the tea bag…

While I don’t really need any descriptions for myself since it’s one of my go-to teas, I’ll still write a little something since I’m here.

The dry smell is definitely minty, but as I’m not the biggest fan of mint, I enjoy that it’s not an overwhelming mint flavour once steeped. The drink in general is very mild—even with leaving the tea bag in for the duration, so it’s right up my alley. No need to add sugar.

Edit to note: Thought I should edit this to note that my score isn’t due to the flavour of this tea alone. While it’s definitely a decent tasting tea to me, it’s not something that I would normally rank a 90 for in taste. Since it always makes me feel better, however, and does so without tasting awful, it gets the 90. :) Taste alone would be more of a 75.

After my marathon gongfu session with Tillerman’s Shan Lin Xi, it was too late to have any more caffeine, so I chose this herbal. I don’t usually buy bagged tea, but keep some of this on hand since it’s simple and convenient. I steeped one bag (no idea how many grams) in a 355 ml mug at around boiling for 4, 6, and 10 minutes.

The flavour is predominantly vanilla and chamomile, with a bit of mint and possibly some sweetness from the blackberry leaves (though the vanilla is also sweet, so who knows?). The rose gets completely lost. The flavour doesn’t change over the three steeps and the tea is soothing and pleasant.

Sometimes you need something comforting and uncomplicated, and this tea fills the bill perfectly!

ETA: How can Steepster not have chamomile in its list of flavours?

Y’all, you’re going to laugh: This is the best chai-like tea I have had in the last 10 years. I know it’s just a bunch of powder in a bag, but gosh darn it, it’s delicious powder in a bag. Bengal Spice has a wonderfully strong flavor that doesn’t get overpowered by adding creamer, and it’s sweet enough on its own that I don’t need to add sugar. I know Celestial Seasonings gets a bad rap, but no matter how many fancy chai-like teas I try, I always come back to this one.

Yum yum, comfort herbal tea. It’s a bit drying, but I really like the flavor, especially with a splash of milk added. This would pair famously with a chocolate biscotti. It’s great sweater weather tea, and perfect for scratching the 2:00 PM caffeine itch without actually giving in to it.

I really wish they sold this one in grocery stores… but alas. I’ve been meaning to try it for a long time now, and since I’m on a bit of a “coffee alternative” kick with yaupon and mate in the mornings and caffeine-free herbal alternatives like dandelion and chicory in the afternoons, I finally gritted my teeth and paid the $6 Amazon wants for a single box of it. My grocery store sells other CS blends for like $2 or $3 a box. T-T
The dry teabag smelled very strongly of cinnamon and not much else. However, the SECOND the hot water hit it, the liquor released a very strong roasted barley scent, in addition to the cinnamon. The scent was very faintly reminiscent of coffee, but it really reminds me more of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, minus the sugary component.
Once I sipped, I tasted the anise, barley, chicory, and cinnamon. Didn’t get much in the way of carob or allspice.
Overall, this tea tastes like biscotti. I see what CS was going for here, and it’s a very pleasant, warming, roast-y cuppa, but it doesn’t taste like coffee and doesn’t satisfy the 2:00 PM coffee urge the way that Teeccino’s Dandelion Dark Roast does.
Still, I’m not mad at it. I’ll definitely enjoy the rest of the box and maybe even consider re-stocking it, if I can continue to get it online.

Somebody got her work father drinking Sleepytime every night.

This stuff is great when fresh. It’s predominantly spearmint and lemongrass, two ingredients I don’t care for in combination but when combined with linden, chamomile , rose and orange blossom, creates a soothing balance. There is a modest spearmint and blackberry leaf sweetness if the bag is taken out in a timely fashion. Otherwise the lemongrass dominates and a drying quality develops when the bag is left in the mug until last sip.

Hmm. Received two tea bags from derk, but for some reason it was forgotten. And moreover not even in my virtual cupboard. I decided to brew it 5 minutes in freshly boiled water, without any checking how I should make it. And by coincidence I prepare it fairly similar to derk. THANK YOU to California.

Anyway to the tea; I needed something to calm nerves a bit, and this worked beautifully. I did not passed mathematics exam I took today (yes, in Saturday), which indeed made me sad. I had so high hopes. So next week re-sit.

This tea struck my nose with its spearmint notes. Refreshing, fresh; then hints of flowers and in background hints of vanilla. Brewed, vanilla notes with flower notes are there in aroma, but in taste it is mellow vanilla flower tea. With cooling aftertaste of spearmint. It is bit sweet for my tooth, but basically I can’t say any disparaging word.

No song pairing, okay, let’s make one (cover from Bob Dylan): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMurtgI1CTI
Food pairing: store-bought chocolate mousse
Photo pairing:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152410333@N04/49952614157 — taken today after I went to our garden to mow grass (with scythe), but as it was dry, it was too hard to mow. I gave up pretty quickly, but honestly I wanted to take few pictures…

I think this tea is best cold. The chamomile, mint, and sweetness mix to make quite the lovely blend. I don’t buy boxes of this anymore, but if I come across a bag somewhere, it’s always a safe bet.

Thanks so much for the swap, AJRimmer!  I like this one!  It might be up there with my CS favorites.  It has a sweetness to it that doesn’t seem like stevia to me, as far as I can tell.  And then there is a SPICY kick which must be only ginger?  But the ingredients in the teabag were like a fine dust, so maybe more of the spice of the ginger is imparted that way?  It seems simple, but it’s different.  Not really MAPLE but what tea is ever actually maple?   The second steep had less of a kick, but plenty of sweetness. With the kick, I’m glad I only used one teabag at a time.
Steep #1  // 1 teabag for full mug // 18 minutes after boiling  // 2-3 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 1/2 min

I used to drink this tea at our weekly tea and conversation gatherings in my hall at college, so it’ll always have a fond place in my memory. The flavor is simple, but warming and pleasant. It’s mostly chamomile, though the sweetness is accomplished in a way that’s different and interesting. I don’t like honey generally, but it works in the flavoring here. I enjoy all the chamomile offerings from Celestial Seasonings, but this is my favorite.

I miss when these boxes came with tea flavored chapsticks. They were so great. This tea is always a reliable choice. The chamomile flavor is so tasty without any detracting qualities. Really I enjoy this chamomile more than some loose leaf ones I’ve had.

I end up drinking a lot of Celestial Seasonings when visiting family, which I don’t mind. This one tastes pretty acidic. Maybe it would be more pleasant cold brewed or with a short steep. It definitely has the right amount of sourness, and the flavor is fairly interesting for a lemon tea, but that unpleasant acidity makes me not love this one.

To be honest, I am always a little skeptical of a tea that touts itself as an “herbal supplement.”
Usually that does not incite the kinds of flavors I would enjoy. In this case, what you can expect in the taste department is: nothing.

Initial notes were of hot water, the finish has a little bit of licorice that creeps in. Perhaps someone is zesting a ginger in the next room over? For how the blend smells dry, it simply falls flat on its face.

I steeped an extra minute and a half on the instructions both to make up for the lack of true tea leaves and because my water supply isn’t at a rolling boil. I can’t think of anything that might help this tea other than cooking it with rolling water for some inconsiderate steep time. Then again, I do not play on having this supplement again.

At the end of the cup though, this tea feels more like taking my vitamins, but without any flavor.

When I compare to the English Breakfast I started the day with, well, there is no comparison. This is not tea.

7oz of boiling water to a clear glass tea mug. Steeped for 6 min as package recommended

Worth noting these are slightly out of date range but have been inspected and kept in a cool dry environment.

Quite an interesting brew, this one. It’s not something I would drink for pleasure alone but with seasonal allergies that have turned into lifelong sinus issues, one appreciates the notion of a health tea aimed to help with that very ailment.

As with most herbal teas I have had in the past, this blend has a light body with some unique characteristics. Alongside the general herbaciousness there comes a sweet anise flavor that coats the tongue and throat like maple syrup. The sweetness lingers on your palate. This leaves the feeling of light menthol as some others have picked up.

Even if it does not directly help sinuses like a shot of HCL spray might, it is a soothing and relaxing brew to have especially before bed to hydrate when you are feeling stuffy or just want a uniquely sweet way to wind down.

At first I was turned off by this sweetness but now that I anticipate it I can more fully wrap my head around it.