Celestial Seasonings

This year, I have challenged myself to finish every tea in my cabinet on January 1st by December 31st. It’s actually going super well! Today I realized I’d have to start breaking into my bagged tea or else the last few months of the year would be only bags. This one had a somewhat unpleasant smell, but happily, the flavor is quite nice. It doesn’t really taste like what it’s advertised to be, though. It’s similar to Stash’s licorice spice tea. The main flavor is licorice and there’s a tiny bit of spiciness underneath. This one doesn’t need sugar since the licorice is already pretty sweet. I really enjoyed my cup, but definitely don’t expect any vanilla or very much spice. It’s licorice all the way. I really like licorice teas, but I’m not giving it a super high rating purely because I feel this tea is named/advertised improperly.

Sipdown! (167/397)

Thanks for the sample, Marzipan!

I’ve been putting this one off for a while now, mainly because I have a pretty strained-at-best relationship with ginger, and I’ve found a lot of Celestial Seasonings’ offerings to be cloyingly sweet. Going in with low expectations has helped, I suppose, because I was pleasantly surprised by this one! I’m drinking it tactically after eating a couple of chocolates, with my thinking being that it would tame any unwanted sweetness, and it seems to have done the trick because although I get that liquorice root feeling at the back of my throat, I’m actually not getting a tonne of sweetness from it. The ginger is present, but not overwhelming and there’s actually a strong cinnamon note which puts this tea in my good books straight away. There’s an unexpected fiery kick which is partially to do with the cinnamon and ginger, but it’s punchier… black pepper is springing to my mind. I added milk because that’s how I prefer my chais, and this seemed chai-like to me from reading the description. I’m glad I did, because it’s certainly a bold tea and I think the milk helps keep that at bay. Overall, I’m really enjoying sipping on this while I catch up on what’s been going on with Steepter in my absence (I’ve missed you guys). Oh, how I love an unexpected win!

Attended a seminar last night where dinner was served. I’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for a while now – fast for 16 hours, eat within a 8 hour window – and have become accustomed to having dinner no later than 4:30pm on most days. Eating this late made me feel heavy and desperate for some tea to help digest it all.

The only option was the Keurig machine in the lobby and since beggars can’t be choosers, I grabbed a K-cup of this and went for it. It’s been ages since I’ve had Celestial Seasonings. Even in my heathen days of tea bags, I was never impressed by it. The Keurig brewed up 6oz of a tongue-scalding, murky amber liquor. This tea isn’t grassy like a typical green tea. It’s brisk and has the familiar roasty taste of gunpowder green tea – another tea I used to drink a long time ago. Not one that I would normally go for but sipping it felt nostalgic and helped calm my stomach. Decent in a pinch and would be nicer with a squeeze of lemon.

First tasting: My first instinct is to describe this as I would a wine – a strong, dry raspberry where the tartness almost hits more on the way down than on the tongue. The berry part of the flavor is good, but there’s something about it overall that definitely showcases as being a fairly simple grocery store tea as if there was an option for flavor complexity that was left out.
Due to the dryness, this tea made me somewhat thirstier than before I started drinking it although it works well as a non-caffeinated breakfast tea with something like oatmeal.

Sipdown 163/397

Made as my first tea back from Rome since it was an easy one to make and an easy sipdown to boot. This tea has some pretty bad reviews, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! The smell of this steeping filled the whole kitchen with the scent of stewing apples, and I couldn’t help but inhale the steam. When I finally got too impatient and took a sip, I was disappointed that the cinnamon seemed to be the dominant flavour, with only a smidgen of apple playing in the background. I added a pinch of sugar, and this brought out more of the apple flavour, but not enough. I added more, so there was roughly a teaspoon in my mug, and boy did it make a difference. The apple came out so much more, equalling the cinnamon in strength. This is definitely the way I’d recommend drinking this tea. Yummy yummy yum. Thank you Marzipan!

Neutral tasting green, with a little white.

Got a box of this for super cheap this summer. At first, I kind of hated it, but by the middle of my mug, I started to quite enjoy it. It needs milk and sugar because otherwise it’s much too savory for my taste. It’s basically a chai with lots of coconut flavor and lots of clove. Their process for decaffeinating tea may not be the best, though, because I drank two bags of this, and my heart has been beating quickly for a long time. I can usually drink decaf at night without problems, but, well, we’ll see see how well I can sleep after this! I’m not a huge chai fan anymore, but if you are, the flavor is pretty strong in this one, and the coconut gives it an interesting twist.

This is one of the few teas which I loved so much that I went out of my way to get more. Is it rather artificial tasting? Yes. But does that stop me from loving it? NO! It tastes like Caramel Apple candy. Note, I didn’t say it tasted like a caramel apple. It doesn’t. It tastes like artificially flavored caramel apple candy. But it is totally a guilty pleasure tea for me. I am diabetic and cannot have much sugar. So basically, actual apple cider is out. This, when sweetened with a bit of splenda (not stevia. It just does NOT work with Stevia) is close enough to what apple cider basically tastes like to me for it to work as an acceptable substitute. Again, this is a guilty pleasure for me. Is this a good quality apple tea? Heck no. But is it surprisingly tasty enough that I always want it around even out of season? TOTALLY!

Doing a new review of this tea because frankly, my taste buds seem to have evolved in the past two months.

This tea is not as good as I previously rated it by far. I recently made a pure cinnamon infusion for medical reasons and this tastes approximately the same. Yes I like cinnamon and it isn’t horrible. But that is basically all there is to this. Just pure cinnamon. If there are other flavors I can’t taste them.

I’ll probably finish the box but I don’t think I will get any more. I’m certain I can find a better caffeine free chai out there if I look.

So this is basically Chai Tea, without the actual Tea. While my proclivity lately has been more towards loose leaf, I greatly appreciate Bengal Spice for it’s caffeine free nature, and tend to drink it later in the day when I don’t want the caffeine of my usual Masala Chai. It’s really rather good, quite spicy, and I find it drinkable with or without any kind of milk. Without is definitely spicier though. I would recommend this tea to anyone who loves a decent chai, but has tendencies to drink it later in the day when it may interfere with sleep. All in all, not bad for bagged.

Sometimes a “sweet” herbal tea can taste flat and artificial, but this one has a depth of flavor— maybe from the chamomile? It gives you a little touch of that astringent grass flavor that brings the sweetness down to earth a little. It’s mildly fruity but mostly delivers the honey taste.

I enjoyed this Earl Grey blend from Celestial, sometimes even more then twinnings Brand. i think its a good choice to invest in if you enjoy the smell and taste of bergamot.

Holiday Tea-son! This came in the Discovery Teabox, and though I’ve seen this one reviewed many times, I actually have never tried this one. It fits my monthly theme nicely, so why not finally try it out? Thanks so much to Skysamurai for organizing and all participants of the box!

The teabag smells very buttery and sweet. The steeped tea is slightly buttery, with some subtle nutty and vanilla notes. There is a very slight lemon creme note toward the end of the sip. It really does remind me of a sweet sugar cookie with a lemon glaze topping, and it is quite nice. The flavor is perhaps a little weaker than I prefer for my herbals, and I did like it better when I added a few more teabags to my teapot. But this is certainly a bagged tea I wouldn’t mind keeping around, I can see why so many people sing its praises. It is quite tasty, and I do find these sweet, desserty herbals really nice before bed.

This is one of my favorite holiday teas. The spice is sometimes a bit over the top but it does have a very winter feel to it while drinking it. I tried to make a cold brew pitcher of this tea but it is better served hot. The fruit flavor comes through more when it is steeped in hot water. The spices are more pungent in the cold brew version of this tea.

Last one from my family’s stash for the day. I was expecting to dislike this, but it’s a nice chamomile, and the bit of apple is a really fun addition. They go really nicely together. I drank it hot, and I feel like the apple might get a little lost if served cold, but I’ll try it if my local Walmart ever stocks this tea.

Another bag sampled from my family’s stash. As it cools, the spices kind of disappear and make it taste like nothing. Hot it was decent, but definitely not strongly gingerbread. Maybe next time I’ll throw two bags in. It’s not like I’m having a bad time drinking this, but it could really use a lot more flavor if it wants to call itself gingerbread. I’d call the flavor mild ginger with a little of something else in there. If you want a spicy Celestial Seasonings tea, go with Bengal Spice. It’s possible that this box is rather old, so I won’t leave a numerical rating.

I always get a cup or two of this when I’m visiting family. I usually find cranberry flavored things to be too sour, but this one isn’t! The vanilla definitely balances it out, making it taste creamy and delicious. It really is a special flavor combination. A bit tart, then creamy and warm.

My aunt gave me an opened box of this to take home since it’s only 2 months from the Best By date. I’m a little bit of a scavenger by nature so I ain’t complainin’. She does this with wine, too, which doesn’t have a best by date. She just gives me all the red wine she receives as gifts that she doesn’t think she’ll like. Definitely not complainin’ about that one.

For being opened for who knows how long and so close to the Best By date, it’s still very potent. It’s mostly a drying cinnamon oil and clove spicy herbal tea with a decent chocolatey carob note and a hint of vanilla. Carob and caramel sweetness settle at the bottom of the mug for a nice ending. It’s warming and tasty enough to drink two cups in a row. I let the bag do its thing while I sip. Glad I can still find some joy in grocery store tea.

Visiting family for the holidays, and this is one of the teas they have stocked. I usually add lots of sugar to teas, but this one had none, so it was very tart. It tastes mostly like sour hibiscus with a quite nice cherry finish. I’m sure I’d like this a lot with sugar added. Plain… I enjoyed it, I’d drink it like that again, but I wouldn’t prefer it.

There’s something about the way the sweet, creamy vanilla cradles the herbs and flowers that makes Sleeptime Vanilla a soothing lullaby. The vanilla is a little sweet and strong sometimes, but I find I enjoy it more often than not. This one has come and gone from my cupboard over the years. It’s difficult to find in stores so when I do happen upon it, I sometimes take a box home. Preferred over any other CS Sleepytime.

A pretty good tea especially when it’s cold outside. I was filling a bit sick so I decided to make a good cup of Sleepytime tea and it just hit the spot. Calming.

I would’ve liked the lavender to be a little stronger. I taste mostly lemon, but even so, it’s nice. It’s not the best lemon tea I’ve had, but it’s cheap and good enough. It tastes a little medicinal, but in a good way.

This tea is simply a delight to drink. It’s obviously grate for the holidays, but also to clear up throat/nasal passages. And take a look at that list of ingredients! Doesn’t get more simple than that. Highly recommend.