Our Herb Society Unit planted the initial herb garden at Celestial Seasonings sometime in the 1990's, but none of us could come up with an exact year. When we toured it was all under snow so we didn't get a chance to see how its held up.
Our tour guide had been with the company for over 30 years so we got to relive a lot of the history of the company. Remember Mo's 36, which later became Mo's 24? I remember buying that at the local health food coop. This initial tea blend was made from herbs gathered by founders Mo Siegel, John Hay, Peggy Clute, and Lucinda Ziesings in the Rocky Mountain area around Boulder. Apparently, no one thought it tasted good and they dropped that initial tea blend.
Their first tea blend that became quite popular was Sleepy Time and the beautiful artwork of the Sleepy Time Bear certainly helped. Celestial Seasonings made herbal teas mainstream and when they were bought by Kraft they were sold in grocery stores instead of just health food stores. Now of course, Hain Celestial owns the tea company. They have 87 different blends now. The Morning Thunder was my favorite in college for late night study groups, now I like the Zingers.
I'm of course concerned that most of their herbs are purchased overseas, in face from 35 different countries, but apparently alfalfa, orange peel, and mint do come from the US. We need to have more large herbs farms in the US to support our businesses.
Here is some of the artwork from the packages that they display in the lobby. Part of their values are 'Beauty and Truth' which makes its way over to the beautiful and original artwork on all the packages.
I am always mesmerized by the robotic equipment that folds the boxes and liners, and stuffs them etc. Another robotic arm stacks boxes on a pallet for shipping. But my favorite part of the Celestial Seasonings tour is the mint room. Yes, an entire room of bags of peppermint. A few minutes standing in there smelling that menthol and I feel like a new person, great for the sinuses too.
You can learn about taking a tour here. Have you been on their tour?
3 comments:
Looks like it was a very educational event in Colorado. Seems as it you had a great time! I am a Celestial Seasonings tea fan also. There Sleepy Time Herbal Tea is my favorite and is much needed before bedtime.
Ellisha, if you are ever in the area be sure to schedule it in. The gift shop is fun too.
Thanks for the tour - I didn't know Celestrial Seasonings is in Colorado. I buy their tea all the time. This year I'm excited I will be growing more herbs for homemade tea blends. Last year I planted 6 tea bushes and I'm waiting for the snow to melt to see how they did. I have them covered under 3 layers of agriculture plastic to protect them. I hope they survived this colder than normal winter.
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