Celestial Seasonings Hit & Miss

For a while now, I’ve been a bit of a tea freak. (As it stands, my favorite is still Cinnamon Apple Spice by Celestial Seasonings.) There’s nothing I enjoy more than sitting down with a cup of tea and a good book. But in my journey to find great tasting tea, I often come across flavors that are pretty wretched.

While looking for my beloved Apple Spice down the tea isle of Wegmans, I came across a line of holiday teas that Celestial Seasonings has put out for Christmas. One of the flavors that drew me in was Gingerbread Spice. Man, I love gingerbread, I thought to myself. Well, gingerbread is fine when it’s not in tea form. I tried a little of it the other day, and it tasted like I steeped cardboard in water. There’s an overpowering bitter flatness to it - it’s almost nauseating. Today, I tried it again with a little sugar and it was slightly better, but it still had that strange flavor to it. I hope the Nutcracker Sweet one isn’t as bad, though I have the sneaking suspicion it is. When the name of the flavor suggests that the tea is as tasty as a hand-carved wooden doll, I begin to wonder.

One tea they did do alright with was their Chai. Of course it’s not as good as making it fresh with cinnamon sticks and cloves, but it comes close. Steep it for a good 4-5 minutes, add just a few drops of cream and a spoon full of sugar or honey, and you’re good to go. I’m usually not a lover of commercial teas, but Celestial Seasonings is doing pretty alright for themselves, despite their shortcomings.

Ray