Celestial Seasonings

This tea does live up to its name – it tastes exactly like candy cane! It’s minty, and the vanilla flavour is strong! But that’s also why I don’t like it much… it’s way too sweet for me. I was looking for something more refreshing and with a cleaner finish.

My mom (Andriel) was lucky enough to attend a convention in Denver, CO a few months back. While she was in the city, she toured the Celestial Seasonings factory! (Um, jealous!) She brought back the Nutcracker Sweet for one of my Christmas gifts. I was reallllly sick with the flu over the holiday, so we celebrated the holidays in January. I just tried my new tea for the first time yesterday, and WHOA. I love this tea! I know a lot of the reviews were “ok,” but I love everything about it: The smell makes me feel like I am 7, staring at the Christmas tree in my pjs… The taste is sweet and almost creamy, without adding honey or milk. The color is pretty, and it is DEFINITELY making my work day better!

Thanks Mom!

This one was purchased over the holidays for a mar"tea"ni recipe. For the mixologists among us, it makes an interesting “tasty beverage,” and maintains a fun blue-ish color when combined with vodka.

The tea itself is a bit astringent and my preference is to take it with sugar (or, the aforementioned vodka, when appropriate.) It might be a good candidate for iced tea, too.

Meh.

Mostly spice, not much plum. Disappointing body (too watery feeling in the mouth). It just feels like something is missing. Kept bringing the tea bag back for additional steep time but it just added more spice, never rounded out. Maybe I will try blending in more black tea next time.

This was a tasty tea, but I would have never known it was green tea – the raspberry and hibiscus stole the show almost completely. If you’re looking for something with a distinct green tea taste, this isn’t it, but it is good in its own right as a ‘fusion’ tea.

This tea is a nice, peachy herbal tea. I like the undertones of passionfruit and hibiscus, and a dab of honey brings the fruity taste out nicely. It’s comparable to Bigelow’s Perfect Peach, but I like this one better.

Mmhmm good start to the day :) I steeped this for 5 minutes, ignore the time below – my iPad doesn’t play nice with the sliders :(

This is one of my favorite bagged black teas – it has a nice nutty/cinnamon flavor. When I first got it I was worried the vanilla might taste fake, but it has a nice ‘real vanilla’ undertone. I usually sweeten it with a small amount of honey, but it’s also good without. I buy a few boxes of this around the holidays every year!

This + early V-day chocolates = om nom nom :D

This is pretty much my favorite herbal tea! I just cracked open a new box, which means I’m going to have to make a trip to Albertson’s soon for a new backup box – it’s the only place in town that carries it, oddly.

This tea smells pretty much like any other Zinger before steeping, but after – it smells like a hot cup of hibiscus-y tangerine-y goodness. This is a tea that I usually hover over, inhaling the yummy scent while I wait. It’s naturally sweet-tart and flavorful (just like a ripe tangerine!) without adding any sweetener, but as usual I added a little honey to bring the tangerine flavor even closer to the front.

Ahhh this tea makes any evening a happy place for me :D

This is one of my all time favorite herbal teas/tisanes, and it is my favorite out of everything I’ve ever tried from Celestial Seasonings, hands down. I really enjoy hibiscus based teas, and this one blows most of them out of the water for me. I used to enjoy the other Zinger flavors, but now I really don’t drink them – this is so much better! I usually add a little honey to round out the flavor, but it is quite good unsweetened.

It has a smooth tangerine/hibiscus taste, and smells fantastic – almost reminiscent of blood oranges in scent and color. If you like hibiscus/the other Zinger teas, try it!

It is unfortunate that this tea is only available during the holidays, because it is really good. Very pastry like, with great vanilla and almond flavor and a hint of cinnamon. It kind of reminds me of a snickerdoodle cookie. The black tea flavor in it is fairly strong as well. Prepared with stevia and (sometimes) almond milk.

The Earl Grey that’s occasionally available in my dorm. Decent?

Well, this is the first time I have drank this tea knowing what it is going in. I tried my best to keep an open mind, but I still don’t like it. It has that Kool-Aid flavour that I find typical of Celestial Seasonings’ berry teas, and it might just be my least favourite of the sample pack. So far my only success with CS is in the True Blueberry, and I think i like the Peach one. Only one bag left of this, and I won’t miss it.

If I think long enough and know that it’s supposed to be black cherry, I can taste it, but it’s hidden under the Kool-Aid. I also think it’s only because I know that black cherry is theoretically the flavour.

Backlog, from yesterday: (Mis-posted as Wildberry…makes me laugh now that I know the truth).

The smell of the teabag while dry reminds me of licorice candies my grandfather likes. Luckily, licorice is not on the list of ingredients. Nonetheless, this is an off-putting smell for me. While steeping, the liquor is the sort of berry juice purple I’ve come to expect from Celestial Seasonings.

Finally, the smell comes in as promised – berries! And a lot of them. The steeped smell is similar to childhood fruit punch, though the taste is not nearly as strong or sickly sweet. What I am left with if I can ignore the (still strong) sugar smell is really a nice berry flavoured tea. I can’t pick out specific notes and it is a bit of a ‘busy’ tea, but quite tasty. I think I’ll stick with True Blueberry in future, but this is the beauty of the sample packs – I find out what I like for cheap! : )

I have this tea in k-cups. I don’t drink it often, unless I’ve had “one of those days”. It really helps me relax right when I get home from work. Perfect end to a not so perfect day.

This tea works in a pinch when I’m out of my other night time teas.

This tea is pretty bland unless you add 4-5 sugar cubes to it. Unless of course you like it on the bland side. After the sugar is added it isn’t bad and perfect for those warm summer afternoons.

This cup is really lacking the fruit flavour I remember getting last time. There is still the Kool-Aid sort of taste that hits you right away in the sip, but there aren’t any berries following suit – Perhaps I under steeped it?

So in paying attention I’ve established that my review of this tea yesterday was actualy a review of Black Cherry Berry. Sad to say, if that was supposed to be Black Cherry, it was not a good rendition.

Though, in actually drinking the wild berry tea, I like it! Seems redundant considering the other berry teas they make, but maybe they wanted to corner the market.

Edit – Rating is going down down down as it gets more bitter despite not continuing to steep. Stick with Blueberry – Check!

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: boiling
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cinnamon, hibiscus
Steeped Tea Smell: floral, plum, cinnamon, generally sweet and spicy
Flavor: sweet, cinnamon
Body: Full
Aftertaste: cinnamon, hint of ginger
Liquor: barely translucent dark red-purple

Swap with Meghann M, Thank you!

Very festive, pretty yummy, the plum is weak and the cinnamon dominates. It has a sweetness to it, not sure what from, but I am glad I taste before sweetening.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/01/celestial-seasonings-teabag-herbal.html

I love tangerines and Mandarin oranges, but I definitely do not like this tea. It’s your typical Zinger by Celestial Seasonings, packed with hibiscus and dark. There’s something about the tangerine flavor that reminds me of pool water… I’ll just leave it there.

Finished up the last of my bags of this. I am having a good time clearing out some teabags at work, though then I will need to get something in here to replace it. I have a mad desire to buy one of David’s Tea’s perfect tea mugs (http://www.davidstea.com/accessories/the-perfect-tea-mug) but recognize it as unnecesary. I just think it would make tea at work so much easier, since I’m always brewing for one. Maybe the beau will clue in and get me one as a semi-surprise someday : )