Celestial Seasonings

Your basic chamomile tea. As soothing and low-key as you’d want it to be.

Accidental Sipdown

I had 2 boxes of Celestial Seasonings in the cabinet and grabbed the wrong one. I had preferred this over the regular Sleepytime tea but tonight’s mug is not exactly inspiring. Pretty sure it’s because my mouth is sore from my dog headbutting me and causing a cut lip. It’s very sensitive, especially to heat.
Pushing through the sensitivity, this tea is pretty much as advertised. Creamy vanilla with spearmint and chamomile. I’ve enjoyed drinking this in the evenings throughout winter. It’s even better with a smidge of honey and cooling a bit. Pretty good for a grocery store tea.

I don’t drink this for the taste, I drink it for the specific purpose of helping me sleep. The taste is by no means, bad. It just isn’t anything spectacular but really, it doesn’t have to be, as long as it soothes me off to sleep. To my taste buds it’s predominantly spearmint with a hay-like background and a herbaceous/floral touch. As I sit here typing, I’m already getting sleepy. Sleepy time indeed!

I LOVE this tea! It is, bar none, my favorite pumpkin flavored tea. When I add 2 teabags to my 10oz mug along with some cream and a touch of sweetener, it tastes like pumpkin pie in a mug to me. I love how balanced the pumpkin and the spice flavor is. I only wish this was available as loose leaf because I would buy it by the pound.

Hmm, something in here is quite sweet. It tastes similar to Hot Cinnamon Spice, so maybe it’s the cinnamon flavor? Not sure.

Regardless, it’s still a pleasant enough tisane. Even though I’m not a fan of sweet teas, the hibiscus tartness counters it nicely. Really, it’s a bit like Hot Cinnamon Spice, if someone added a bunch of hibiscus to it.

It gives me a bit of a mulled wine or cider vibe. Not sure if I would repurchase it, but I could see it being nice during the holidays. Definitely doesn’t taste like plum though.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 14/19

I thought this was a black tea, but it turns out it’s an herbal. Oops ha ha. :P

It steeps up unexpectedly dark due to the chicory. Flavorwise, it’s quite mild. The ginger and cinnamon are at the forefront, and I think there’s a bit of clove somewhere in the natural flavors. I don’t get a lot of chicory really, though I admit I haven’t had a lot of experience with it in general. There is a slight earthy toastiness and it does add a bit of body. The last ingredient is “luo han guo”, which is apparently monk fruit. Strange that they call it by the Chinese name, when monk fruit is a fairly common sweetener nowadays. Anyway, happily it’s not very strong in this blend.

To me, this doesn’t really taste like gingerbread, mostly because the ginger is quite zesty and tastes more like fresh ginger than the powdered kind used for baking. But it is a pleasant enough sweet spiced herbal brew that would be nice for the evening or after eating a bit too much.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 9/19

Sipdown! (16 | 171)

Finished this one off with creamer. It’s honestly almost a bit too much with creamer added, since the flavors are very sweet and rich anyway. But I feel completely exhausted this morning for no apparent reason, so I could use some sugar LOL.

The hazelnut-esque nutty notes are nice with the vanilla and hint of spice. With the creamer, it almost reminds me of a roasted chestnut boba I had recently… I think it’s one of the better CS holiday teas, and I would consider picking up another box if I could find it easily/cheaply near me.

I like this one more than I remember. This is one of the holiday teas that I recall sipping on with my sister when we still lived at home, along with Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride.

It’s a nice sweet and nutty black tea, with a bit of vanilla and maybe caramel in there. The cinnamon is just a hint but adds a nice festive touch. I appreciate that it tastes like almonds and not so much like marzipan, although there is a hint of that too.

Overall, it reminds me of a buttery almond cookie, not unlike Simpson & Vail’s Almond Sugar Cookie. The only downside is the black tea is extremely thin and flat here, and doesn’t really contribute much other than a base for flavoring. Still, very nice for a grocery store teabag!

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 7/19

Yeahhhh, this one is not for me.

It tastes more like cherry than cranberry, and it’s definitely a candylike cherry. Add on the stevia, and it ends up tasting like a cheap cherry lollipop, or even a cherry throat lozenge. I don’t really taste the rooibos much under the flavoring and sweetness. The hibiscus is an attempt at balance, but there’s not enough to combat the overwhelming sweetness.

I think this one will go in my rehoming pile… :P

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 4/19

Sipdown! (4 | 193)

I just find this one weird. Like yeah, it has peppermint, hence the candy cane. But then there’s cinnamon and chicory, both odd choices to me. I guess I kind of get holiday vibes? But the extra ingredients make it taste less like a candy cane.

Not one I would buy again.

This one is a bit strange? It’s called candy cane and then it has cinnamon and chicory…?

It tastes good, but it doesn’t say candy cane to me. The peppermint is quite herbaceous and then the cinnamon adds just a hint of warm spice. I’m not sure I get why the chicory is here, it’s a bit odd. But the vanilla is nice and adds some creaminess.

It’s pleasant and interesting, and I can see it being festive. Not sure I would feel the need to purchase it again though.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 2/19

Usually love Celestial Seasonings but this one is a miss. “Tea” is somehow bitter yet flavorless, combined with a phony pear taste.

Definitely lives up to its name – maple and ginger scent permeates the packaging, and upon steeping, those are the major flavors this herbal tea delivers. The ginger is nice and spicy, and the maple is a tad on the “syrup” side but not overly sweet or artificial. I find double-bagging and a slightly longer brew time really brings out the spiciness of the ginger, which helps the maple not be overly sugary. It’s a good cool-weather option (I can’t imagine enjoying this iced). If you see a box and it interests you, I think it’s a pretty safe buy.

This is the third of three Camomile-Honey-Vanilla teas I am comparing tonight. CS is the one which puts Honey first in its description. This is evident in its taste.
Of the three teas I compared tonight: Ahmad, Twinings and Celestial Seasonings, this was both the darkest and most flavorful for the single cup. For that alone it deserved the highest rating of the three, since to me that means one gets more oomph for the money. I haven’t looked to see whether the teabags themselves weigh more or not—they all seemed to be of the same quantity per bag. After all three cups had steeped for 5 minutes, I sampled them in order of mildest to strongest, out of fear the weaker-looking ones wouldn’t have the same olfactory overtones if I waited for them to cool.
I have to say that of the three, the Celestial Seasonings one has the best ‘stand alone’ quality. The one aspect I didn’t like as well was its aroma: I found the predominant honey just a bit cloying. However, that was not evident in the cup.
While I prefer the aroma of the Twinings, I have to admit that to drink alone, the Celestial Seasonings wins this particular taste test. I can still mix them with White Tea for a special nighttime blend, but now I know which one to go to if I want just one cup by itself!

I forget how easy this is to brew and go, with no bitterness or excessive cinnamon. There was a box squirrled away in my cupboard that I opened to take on a road trip. I use two tea bags for a 16 oz go mug and get spicy cinnamon goodness to keep me awake. I certainly wouldn’t reach for it at other times, but for fall or winter travel, its pretty convenient.

Updated Review – I first had this tea about 14 months ago and have continued to drink it like others drink coffee. I’m now buying it by the case. Amazon is a fairly reliable source, although they sell out. Occasionally finding it in local stores, where my wife clears the shelves when she see’s it (literally, she brought home 7 boxes of it last week). The issue is that there are only 12 tea bags per box. You can get two cups out of one bag, but the caffeine hit is only in the first one.
I stand by my first review – in fact, I’m bumping my rating. And I am almost ashamed to admit, I like this one with a splash of half-n-half; always thought those Brits were crazy…maybe not so much :)