Today I, Zeb the Duck, took mom and one of her friends to Boulder, Colorado.   We visited and toured the international headquarters for Celestial Seasonings Tea Company.

Our first stop was signing up for the next tour.

All tours are free.   There were some great seasonal decorations here.

We received a packet with 4 tea bags of Sleepytime Tea.   This is our ticket for the tour and a great, tasty souvenir.   Sleepytime is the most popular tea blend, so we will certainly enjoy our gift.   While waiting for our tour, we sampled several tea blends.

Some teas were hot and some cold.   A menu of all teas is also on the counter and we could request any of the teas.   We did try an additional blend and all of them were delicious.   Also available, for purchase, were these gorgeous pastries and other snacks.

Some small tables by a window made waiting for our tour a pleasant break.   Here is a picture of Mo Siegel, one of the founders and current head of Celestial Seasonings.

As the herbal tea blends became popular, tea bags were needed.   This sewing machine was used to make the first muslin tea bags.

Our tour was called, so into the theater we went.   After watching a short video about the company, including the humble beginnings, international source of tea, and shipping Celestial Seasonings Tea to various countries around the world.   All tea is packaged in Boulder and distributed from this Boulder factory.   On display is this ensemble.   The dress, shoes, hat and purse are all made from Celestial Seasonings tea packages.

This dress was commissioned in support of the Heart Truth campaign of 2006, to raise awareness about the risk of heart disease in women

After the film but before entering the factory, everyone must put on a hairnet.

Men with beards also needed to wear a beard net.  The humans did look a little funny, but nothing except tea and herbs will be in our next cup of tea.    Sadly, we are not allowed to take photos inside the factory.    In the processing area we touched and smelled samples of the product of the moment.   They were making teas with lemon grass.   I like lemon and this smelled so good.   We passed large sacks of tea blends that have been certified by the tea master, insuring proper quality and flavor.   The conveyor belts fill, wrap and seal the boxes.   There are boxes of various sizes for various foreign countries.   One of the most memorable stops on the tour is the mint room.   We love mint, but the aroma was so strong that I, Zeb the Duck, and most humans could not stay in the room very long.   The room is sealed shut most of the time to prevent the strong mint flavor and aroma from dominating all tea blends.   Did you know that the tea blend, Tension Tamer contains catnip?  Yes, the same stuff that cats love.   It is even listed on the box as an ingredient.   The tour ends in the gift shop, or tea shop.  This is just one wall of tea varieties.

So hard to decide, but of course we purchased Tension Tamer with catnip.   And with all this tea, how should we drink it?  Here are a few suggestions for mugs and teapots.

Want more choices?

And there are even more.    Mom has several teapots and teacups, so we did not purchase more.   But this is what we brought home.

We already had several blends of tea at home, but we do really love and drink a lot of tea.