Antonia G Send Message

This stuff was pretty terrible, I couldn’t even finish it and the rest of the box went unused. I like a lot of Celestial Seasonings’ teas, but this one made my tastebuds recoil. Maybe something was wrong with it.

While I usually shy away from “flavored” teas, whether real or lab created flavor, this vanilla flavor is just delightful and not too overwhelming. The tea is also not too sweet by itself, which is a mistake some companies make in their blends. The chamomile is the star here, and as it’s a sleepy time tea, it’s perfect. A hot mug of this tea, with a drop of local honey, just before bed in either the winter or summer is a great way for me to wind down before bed.

I found this tea out of desperation. I lived in South Korea for a while, so amazing and affordable jasmine tea (amongst others) was always throwing itself at me. Since I moved back to the U.S. and rural South, this is unfortunately no longer the case.

There aren’t many places in my area to buy loose-leaf tea and bagged tea is hit-and-miss. I went to World Market and could not for the life of me find any jasmine without some other flavoring in it. I don’t like fruit flavorings in my tea, even if they are real, they often seem fake, or the sweetness drowns out the subtleties that I so enjoy. I finally gave up and told myself I would find an Asian market soon, though it would likely be at least an hour drive.

The same week I was shopping at Target and glanced over the teas there. It’s not a large selection, but hey, can’t hurt. I spotted this lovely teal-green box of jasmine, JUST jasmine, and threw the box in my cart without another thought.

I was pleasantly surprised at the flavor of this tea. Though it’s a bit different than what I am used to, it’s quite pleasant, especially for late-night reading. There is no bitterness to this tea, even when I accidentally over-steep it, which is often >.<

This tea was a rare find, for which I am very grateful.