A Commitment to Wellness

Celestial Seasonings expands its wellness platform with a new line of benefit teas 

By Kastle Waserman

Sitting down with a cup of tea often evokes a sense of relaxation, a peaceful moment and self-care. These qualities are what Celestial Seasonings takes very seriously, combining the overall feeling, ritual and environment of tea drinking with great taste. 

“We have over 100 different ingredients we use daily in our blends,” says Lee Nelson, director of marketing. “Our team works hard to find and select the right ones that are going to deliver a variety of benefits and a taste profile that’s really rewarding for people.”

The company was founded in Boulder in 1969 by a group of entrepreneurs who handpicked wild herbs from the Rocky Mountains and sought to offer something that would provide a sense of well-being and connection to the earth, that they could share through their love of tea. Celestial Seasonings has since grown from those humble beginnings to a global brand with more than 90 flavorful varieties of herbal, green, black and wellness teas. Every box is filled and shipped out of its Boulder headquarters.

The core principles of the founders continue to this day, says Lee, specifically in the brand’s wellness platform that recently expanded with a new line of benefit teas
that includes: 
SheWell Raspberry Leaf: a soothing, restorative blend with a delicious raspberry taste to help women feel their best throughout their monthly cycle.

Good Vibes Lemon Mint: a refreshing fusion of lemon and mint, to help support your mood and refresh your mindset.

Detox Blend Dandelion: combines lightly sweet and earthy flavors to gently support the body’s natural detoxifying processes in a palate-pleasing and approachable way.

Everyday Wellness Variety Pack: with Sleepytime Echinacea Immune Support, Sleepytime Extra, Vitamin C Shine and Ginger + Probiotics, bringing together a curated mix of four functional blends to support daily wellness needs, whether it be sleep, digestion or immune health.

The wellness line of teas has a value-added benefit. “It’s about making the product functional by including holistic benefits, such as elevating mood or providing detoxification,” Lee says. “It’s the idea of mixing unique blends with all the ingredients we have available to us to provide benefits people are looking for.”

When it comes to developing teas with new flavors or benefits, Lee says the process includes looking at a combination of consumer-facing data, trend analysis, internal research, conducting surveys, and talking to people directly to discover likes, dislikes and special requests. “The world is a different place than it was even five years ago,” he says. “So we strive for an understanding of how it’s changing and evolving and then try to adapt and come up with new solutions to fit people’s needs.” The R&D team sometimes plucks people from factory tours to conduct taste tests to gather even more data.

The tour closed during the pandemic but reopened in 2023 with a few updates to create a “multi-sensory” experience. It now includes a behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s history, including viewing the original artwork for the tea boxes, tasting various teas at the Tea Bar, smelling the ingredients—including a sniff of the legendary mint room—and watching the packaging process. They also made revisions and additions to the gift shop. Most recently, the company started charging a minimal tour fee of $6, which Lee says isn’t about profits but rather the cost of doing business to ensure they could continue to provide an exceptional experience to the public. 

Guests also learn about the company’s sustainability efforts, including packaging the teas in natural fiber, pillow-style tea bags that don’t need a string, tag, staple, or individual wrapper, and its boxes made with 100-percent recycled paperboard. The company also recently removed the plastic overwrap from most of its boxes to reduce waste.  

The tour and tea brand’s Boulder headquarters are carefully curated to reinforce Celestial Seasonings’ sense of playfulness and its core values of providing a shareable product that promotes wellness and great taste. It’s a brand with a large, loyal following and 79 percent brand awareness as the number one herbal tea brand.

The key principles that Celestial Seasonings was founded on were the excitement of exploring and finding unique and new tea varieties and blends, Lee says. But it’s also the love and commitment of taking that and making something shareable with others. “We strive to work with that original intent of finding opportunities to get our teas into as many hands as possible in order to share that love with the world.” 

Learn more and plan your visit at celestialseasonings.com.