![]() Getting hit by a wave of mint’s menthol scent when the garage door to the mint room opens is one of the more memorable parts of the tour. “Peppermint is isolated because it likes to share,” she said. The mint, on the other hand, is stored in its own room because it overpowers everything near it. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)Īs Smith led guests through the factory, she explained that the tea leaves, Camellia sinensis, for the caffeinated flavors are kept separate because they’re like sponges, absorbing other flavors. People love our tea.” Packages of Sleepytime herbal teas, the company’s bestseller, are seen on a shelf during a tour at Celestial Seasonings in Boulder on Friday. “You meet people from all over the world. “I was delighted to be asked back,” Smith said. About 20 staff members so far have been hired to lead tours and staff the gift shop, many of them returning to the jobs they held pre-pandemic. She worked briefly in the factory before deciding to retire, but agreed to return to her previous tour guide position. Leading Friday’s tour was Debbie Smith, who was close to her 13th anniversary as a guide when the pandemic hit. “When you visit Boulder, you go to Pearl Street Mall, you come to Celestial Seasonings and you hike Chautauqua,” he said. Baden, who joined the company in 1975, remembers the early years working with a small, close knit group that included a cook to serve daily lunches. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)īaden is featured in the new pre-tour video, which includes photos from the company’s homegrown start in the 1970s as a cottage business selling herbal teas. He tasted ingredients prior to purchase and when they arrived, as well as sampling the blends and then “every single batch of tea.” From left: Boulder Chamber President and CEO John Tayer talks with retired senior blendmaster Charlie Baden during a tour at Celestial Seasonings in Boulder on Friday. In preparation for the reopening, the company held a ribbon cutting and tour on Friday for a small group that included former blendmaster Charlie Baden, who retired after 47 years at Celestial Seasonings. The cafe’s closure will continue, for now. The gift shop and cafe also were closed to the public. This is such a happy day.”Ĭelestial Seasonings, located on Sleepytime Drive in a Gunbarrel neighborhood, stopped offering tours in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It gives us such pride that people are excited to see what we do. Having consumers here is so energizing for us. “We are so ready,” said Celestial Seasonings General Manager Tim Collins. ![]() Retired senior blendmaster Charlie Baden, left, watches a short video on the history of the company during a tour at Celestial Seasonings in Boulder on Friday. ![]() Starting Saturday, the public is again invited to peek inside Boulder’s Celestial Seasonings factory as it mixes, blends and packages tea to produce up to 10 million individual tea bags a day.Ĭelestial Seasonings is restarting its popular tours - though they will no longer be free - and reopening its gift shop to the public after a closure that stretched more than three years. ![]()
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