Celestial Seasonings

This K-cup is exceedingly popular at my workplace, and the smell of a brewed cup is very enticing with cinnamon and cardamom coming through strongly. Unfortunately, the taste of that same cup is very acidic and pale. No amount of milk and sugar can redeem this poor chai.

I had long been wary of this no-black-tea attempt at Indian spices, but received a box worth as a gift so dutifully gave it a few cups’ try. Suffice to say, I was right to be scared. Too much spice in the form of nutmeg & pepper overwhelmed with vanilla and nowhere near enough of the ginger, cinnamon and cardamom that would make an herbal ‘chai’ emulation worthwhile. Will be leaving the rest of this box at work for the less chai-obsessed folk.

So I’m completely new to steepster, this being my first tasting note and all so I’ll just dive in.
This tea has been by my side since I was a sophomore in high school (i’m a sophomore in college now) and has gotten me out of some pretty nasty colds and into some really nice moods. The lemon flavor is out of this world and it’s perfect steeped all day on a cold morning (or night, I’m fixing a cup right now!)
It is definitely not for everyone but if don’t hate hibiscus and you’re looking for a good lemon tea I would definitely recommend it! It’s great with honey but personally I could drink it black any day.

Classic tea, nothing too special. Makes me feel at home. Very relaxing, even on a stressful day. Light and refreshing, more so than chamomile.

For once, a gingerbread tea that tastes like gingerbread rather than the usual spiced apple and fruit mixtures. It does a good job of tasting like a gingerbread cookie, I rather wish I had some to dip in it. Pleasant.

This smelled amazing… unfortunately I discovered that it had barley in it after I bought it. No gluten for this celiac.

I’m sorry to say but when I first opened this box and caught the smell of the tea, I didn’t touch it for over a week. The smell was so strong, like a floral potpourri, that I couldn’t even imagine that it’d taste good.

I finally decided to try it though, expecting the worst. The smell is definitely lessened as it steeps, and the liqueur is a festive, deep reddish-purple.

The problem is the taste. It’s so strong that the first sip made my mouth tingle. The sweetness is the first thing you taste, followed by the slightly offensive taste of spices; most notably, the cinnamon. The aftertaste reminds me of cinnamon gum.

I was very generous in my rating of this tea, because I haven’t given up hope that there’s a way to improve the flavor. At the very least, I think it’d made a nice simmering potpourri for the holidays.

I’ve been dying to try this tea for a few years now but could never find it anywhere. Lo and behold, I finally found it at my local Publix and grabbed a box.

The smell of this tea is to die for. It’s so sweet, buttery, and warm – just like a real sugar cookie! The liqueur was a pretty pale blonde, much like cookie dough. By itself, the flavor was lacking a little but it was improved by adding a little vanilla soymilk for a little extra sweetness and creaminess.

I was thoroughly impressed with this tea and will be buying a few more boxes to tide me over until next year. This is a great holiday tea, but works just as well to sip as a dessert tea.

I didn’t drink this tea to tame any tensions, I was just curious how this herbal tea tasted.

It was an interesting tea with a different taste. I found it tasted quite nice.

Ingredient list: Eleuthero, peppermint, cinnamon, ginger, chamomile, lemon grass, licorice, catnip, tilia flowers, natural lemon flavour, natural flavours (contains soy lecithin), hops, Vitamins B6, B12. Contains soy.

I wasn’t familiar with the eleuthero (the first ingredient on the list) so I looked it up and found that it is also called Siberian ginseng. The ingredients also include several other common ingredients in calming / night time teas as well as some more interesting ingredients such as catnip. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever tried catnip.

Tastes fruity, smells fantastic. No caffeine, but no loss of flavor. Perfect for before bed if you like tart fruit teas. Strong berry taste, only hints of mango. Make sure to steep it long enough for the best flavour!

A wonderful fruity tea. The sweetness of raspberries really shine in this tea, and it’s great hot or cold (and I’m not even an iced tea fan)!

One of my absolute FAVORITE teas. This tea is just sweet enough to help bring out the peppermint, and the balance is perfect. I love this tea anytime of the year! Extra bonus is that it’s a caffeine free green tea, so you can enjoy it late at night!

LOVE this tea. It really tastes like a cup full of hot, buttery, sugar cookies. I got this tea mainly bc I wanted to curb my nighttime sweet snack. This satisfies my sweet tooth and is much better than anything I was snacking on.

Wanted to try this for the longest time but could never find this in store. Finally went to a local bookstore and tada, they happened to have it on their tea menu. Within drinking that first cup, I knew that this was going to become a v v v quick problem. I may have ordered one or six boxes. Its everything I want in a cup of tea in the cooler months. Add a blanket and a book and it’s pure bliss.

I must admit this tea is really good. I kept seeing people talk about it and finally placed an order then made a cup. Very light almost floral in a way. A touch of lemon (which I am not a fan of any lemon coming near tea) and a bit of butter. Sounds so weird but on those nights where you want a sugar cookie but don’t want to make any or go to the store to have one, this is a great option.

A beautiful and fairly strong minty tea with a little bit of sweetness and warmth from the vanilla and cinnamon. I appreciate the strength of the peppermint in the tea, but I like how it is tempered by the other flavors. Perfect for Christmas, but delightful year round.

Everyone has different tastes which is why I recommend picking up this sampler to see which you prefer. For instance I was surprised that I enjoyed the peppermint flavour. Not that I would have it every day but occassionally as an after dinner drink or during festive times. As always, I love the Sleepytime Chamomile and would drink this before bedtime every night to unwind.

Unpleasantly, alarmingly spicy…not a well balanced chai. It was too bitter. I’ll give this one another shot later with more almond milk. Maybe that will cut the spices down.

I haven’t had Celestial Seasonings in forever, but I broke down and steeped this up because I have a headache and thought it might help. It’s probably because it’s so old, but this tea tastes like nothing at all. It still manages to smell fresh though, somehow.

Enjoying a decadently non-traditional Thanksgiving Day (extended family later = home, sleep late, lazy morning, chili for Thanksgiving Day Dinner)…which meant we found ourselves at Food 4 Less around noon to pick up odds and ends. And the best find of all was a huge bin of Celestial Seasonings holiday goodies on sale! Found Caramel Apple Dream, which I’ve been hunting for all fall, and impulsively grabbed this box, too.

On to real tea-related comments. Existing reviews aren’t very kind to the Wonderland, but I like it. Think sweet cranberry cookie, not tart cranberry chutney. The stevia, which turned me off CS’ Sweet Harvest Pumpkin, meshes better with the rooibos, and while it’s more sweetener than I’d add on my own, works just fine.

Blech!!!!!

So I left the tea bag in for maybe half a minute and the water was still clear.

But then I took a chopstick to stir it a bit and an oil spillage of fuchsia happened. Not two heartbeats later, the scent blasted into my face as if a jet stream made of cotton candy scent.

The taste was exactly what those harbingers of doom warned: in-your-face, sweet to a point of nausea, maybe a little bit tart, and cough syrupy in a distinctly synthetic range. I noticed the hibiscus scent for maybe fifteen seconds, and the flavor for an even shorter amount of time, before it succumbed to the avalanche of undercooked cranberry pie flavor.

It sure has a zing, but do not drink this unless you want the taste of hyperglycemic levels of sugar on your tongue.

I’m a little on the fence about this tea. When I bought it, I imagined it being sweet and warm, but after having a cup, I think the flavor and overall impression is slightly underwhelming.

Upon opening the box, the smell is very strong and slightly artificial, like a berry cinnamon potpourri. After steeping for five minutes, the smell seems a little diluted, though you can definitely still identify cinnamon and berries. The liqueur is a pretty pinkish-red.

Much like the scent after steeping, the taste is somewhat diluted. It’s slightly sweet and the most notable flavors are artificial cranberry, cinnamon, and hibiscus. I don’t detect any traces of vanilla or rooibos at all.

I’m not sure if I’d recommend this tea, though I wouldn’t steer anyone away from it. There’s not much to this tea, but I’m sure there are some who would enjoy it, so I’d encourage anyone who’s interested to at least give it a try. You never know!

I didn’t even bother trying this hot because I knew I wasn’t going to like it. Instead, I cold brewed this tea- the 4 tea bags in my sampler pack steeped in 2L of water for 24+ hours. The result is a not sour, lemony taste. Not bad and refreshing! Still a little weak though, so I’m going to leave the tea bags in for at least another day. I love using tea bag tea for iced tea- just throw the bags out- easy clean up!