Celestial Seasonings: the place for tea fanatics

Boulder is full of many gems, but did you know it’s home to the Celestial Seasonings tea factory?B

Anyone who is a tea fanatic knows the name Celestial Seasonings, but not many know that the factory is in the heart of Boulder. Celestial Seasonings was founded in 1969 with the idea to produce all-natural herbal teas to help people live healthier lives. They began harvesting fresh herbs by hand from the Rocky Mountains, drying them, blending them, and assembling the blends into hand-sewn muslin bags, selling them to local health food stores.

Today, Celestial Seasonings is one of the largest tea manufacturers in North America, serving more than 1.6 billion cups of tea each year, made from over 100 ingredients from over 35 different countries. They offer a wide selection of black, green, and white teas in addition to herbal blends and wellness teas.

Tea fanatics have the chance to take a free tour of the facility to see how the tea is made and packaged. Visitors are given a packaged sample of one of their teas, which serves as their “ticket”. Before and after the tour starts, visitors are able to sample eight to ten different teas and if there is one you want to try that is not out on display, Celestial employees can make it for you.

Prior to the factory tour, guests watch a ten-minute video detailing the history of the company, the manufacturing process, and their international partners. Visitors then tour the factory, starting with the milling process, which finely cuts the herbs and spices, and ends with how the tea is packaged, ready for shipping. Along the tour, visitors experience the famous “Mint Room”, an entire room filled with spearmint, peppermint and catnip. The room is so fragrant that it needs to be kept separate from the rest of the herbs. Visitors can get a commemorative “I survived the Mint Room” postcard from the Tea Shop.

The tour ends in Celestial Seasonings “Tea Shop”, where guests have the opportunity to buy all of Celestial Seasonings’ teas and memorabilia. A benefit of buying tea at the factory is it is sold at wholesale, 40 percent off the retail price. Since the company is owned by the Hain Celestial Group, they also sell a slew of other all-natural beauty products from their other brands.

The Celestial Seasonings factory tour is a perfect local activity to do in Boulder to support the local industry. It’s a great activity to do with family or friends and not to mention, the tour itself is free. So if you are a tea fanatic, this is the perfect place to visit.