Tea for two

The world of tea is pretty fascinating, I think. How flavors are chosen and blended, and how people all over the world have incorporated it into their cultures...

I love tea. I always feel so much healthier when I drink it. I also love coffee, but I do for different reasons, i.e., tea just seems much more pleasant when reading a book. But I typically want coffee when I'm reading the paper in the morning while getting ready for work.

One place I've wanted to visit is the Celestial Seasonings plant in Boulder, Colo. I spent the weekend in Denver with Carrie and when she mentioned she'd like to hit up the plant to restock, I said I was in!

So, off we went Saturday morning to Boulder.

The place is kind of weirdly located in the middle of a neighborhood. It's surrounded by houses and if you didn't know better you'd think the directions weren't right. I wonder what it must smell like for the people living around there...


The first thing you want to do is make your way to the tasting room and get your name on a tour time. Then you want to join the throngs of folks milling around sucking down little cups of tea from the pre-brewed stuff and from the baristas...


They only have a few pre-brewed kinds sitting out, but they have a tasting menu that you can request a taste from. There are flavors here I've never seen on the grocery shelves! I was amazed at how many flavors they produce! Below, Carrie and I are about to taste Powerfully Plum, Acai Mango Zinger, and another I can not for the life of me remember. I do recall, however, we weren't big fans...


You may recognize this bear from the package of Sleepy Time tea. Speaking of their packages - for each tea released a different artist creates an original work of art for that box. Some of the original artwork can be seen in the tasting room. Pretty neat! Anyway, Carrie and I had to time our photo shoot with the bear just right. He's in the theater, where you go first on the tour for a background movie. We had to get in and out between tour groups! We're such sneaks...


There are several things from our tour I can't show you because we aren't allowed to take pictures. HOWEVER, I've discovered how awesome the Celestial Seasonings Web site is - they provide a virtual tour for you online! The fun thing you miss on the virtual tour is the Mint Room where they keep bags of peppermint and spearmint leaves stacked just waiting to be processed. When you walk in it's like you took a big whiff of Icy Hot. It was my favorite part on the actual tour.

Make sure to visit the gift shop on your way out. You can get some of those fun flavors there. I clearly stocked up!