Art and Tea. These are two of my favorite things (They go so well together!). There is a place where these two wonderful things come together. It is an iconic part of Boulder history. Have you guessed it yet? It is Celestial Seasonings! Lucky for me, the factory and gift shop are close-by. I have taken the tour a number of times, especially when entertaining out of town guests, and it is really cool to see how the tea is made and the history of how it all began. I have to say though, my favorite part is the gift shop. A lot of local people go there to get gifts for out of town family and friends but also to find a huge selection of tea and tea-related products. I just love this place! I had to go there recently to get a gift basket so I thought you might like to come along for the ride and see for yourself. Definitely worth a stop if you happen to be in the area:) I have no affiliation with them, I just LOVE them and thought you might, too. Let's go!
Sleepytime Drive. Isn't that cute? Look at those Colorado big skies. Beautiful no matter what the weather! Rolling gray clouds today.
Let's resist the urge to make a B-line straight to the gift shop and start with the tour and some tea sampling (free samples...did I forget to mention that?).
Walk in the door and turn to your left and you run into this life-sized sleepytime tea bear. Try your hardest not to take a flying leap into his lap...thank goodness for the sign.
When you walk in, there is someone there to greet you and set you up with a tour time which includes a little informative movie, a factory tour and a trip to the famous mint room. It's a great little tour ending in, you guessed it, the gift shop. As you wait for your tour you can sip your free samples and browse the gallery which has many of the original paintings used on the tea boxes and a little bit about the artists that created them. I love seeing the original paintings up close and personal! They also have a wonderful collection of unique, fine art, tea kettles.
Grab yourself a free sample and take a browse around this fun gallery. Here is pomegranate iced tea. YUM.
Think I'll go for the hot tea on this blustery day.
A little story of how it all began. It is hard to imagine people picking wild herbs in Boulder but back in the 1970's it was pretty rural and hippy-ish around here. Not to say that there isn't lots of open space and community gardens but it was much less populated and a lot more 'crunchy' back in the day.
Mo Seigel, the founder.
This is the actual sewing machine that was used to sew the original muslin tea bags, which were sold to local health food stores. Picturing them sitting and sewing each individual little bag. What in inspiration to see how they started and how far they have come. Boulder is full of fantastic entrepreneurial stories like this.
Look at this funky kettle!
Enlightened!
And, be still my heart, the original paintings! Morning thunder black tea.
Vanilla Ginger Spice.....Harder to capture the ones with the glass but isn't that pretty? Ice cream scoop clouds....
Cinnamon spice chai, anyone?
Mandarin Orange spice, I think.
Gingerbread Spice!
They have a many more. One last thing before we head to the gift shop...check this out:
A gown made entirely of tea bags and boxes of course! Unfortunately, there are no pictures allowed for the factory tour part. It is a nice little informative tour and lasts about 45 minutes where you are dropped off in nirvana/the gift shop.
So when you walk in you are greeted with little collections grouped together like this. There are so many different designs.
Just another example. There are tons to choose from.
Travel mugs with the tea artwork on them...
Just kettles galore in every color of the rainbow.
For the ladybug lover....
Local chocolate....Chocolove.
Mugs.
A tiny tea bag plate. I did not even know how badly I 'needed' one of these until I saw this :)
Rows and rows of teas. Many that you don't find in the regular grocery store.
Can't forget the honey!
For your favorite little lady. I think there should be a boy version too! Maybe a coolish backpack-y thing.
Some local skin care products.
Tea Towels......because OF COURSE!
Bike shirts? Hot cup o' tea while bike racing? A nod to the huge biking community here in Boulder.
Funky covers for your mug to keep your tea warm....another item I had no idea I 'needed' so badly!
Infusers and creamers.
O.K, so there it is. I think this is such a great company. I really love where I live and am excited to share some of my very favorite spots! Hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to go get some caramel apple tea now and watch those big old clouds rolling by.
Warmly,
Pam