Today, visitors can get an idea for the depth of this work by walking through the factory, where every turn has a different scent story. He studied Siegel and the ingredients, teaching himself the various flavors and scent differences and how everything worked together. “He was like an expert cook in the kitchen,” Baden says. 11, 1975.) He began working in the small company’s manufacturing department, where everyone was new to herbal tea and learning about it together, as consumers continued to demand more.īaden recalls watching Siegel tasting the tea: “Add more of this, take this out.” (Even today, he has two start dates in the database: as “Bob” on the day after Labor Day in 1975, and as Charlie Baden on Dec. So Baden kept showing up.Īfter about three months, someone finally stopped Baden and said something along the lines of, “I know you’ve been here a long time but who are you and what do you do?” (Only in Boulder in the ‘70s.) He was never actually hired his friend just gave him his paycheck. His buddy’s job: cleaning bails of European blackberry leaves.īaden’s first response: “Herbal tea? What’s that?” But he needed the cash, so he just showed up to the (obviously super laid-back) factory and began doing the work. One day, the guitar player from their band asked if Baden could fill in on his job because he couldn’t make it.
Those family businesses across the globe (like chamomile from Egypt, black tea from India and Asia, lemongrass from South America) have grown alongside Celestial Seasonings. Other things remain the same, too: Many of the botanical and herb suppliers are the same since day one. The top seller: Sleepytime Extra (a wellness tea with added valerian, for extra sleepier times). That was the birth of Sleepytime Tea, which remains the company’s No. In 1972, Siegel took a bus trip to Mexico, where he was introduced to Tilia flowers, used to help with sleep. As a Boulder-based company with (literal) roots in nature, the environmental impact was always important, Price says. They ultimately switched to a vegetable-based ink. They decided not to use string and paper on the bags because it was wasteful, and they began using recycled paperboard before it was even a thing. The company didn’t immediately explode it grew slowly and deliberately, according to Blair Price, director of marketing for Celestial Seasonings. “Every country has its own flavor,” he says. He can taste chamomile and tell you exactly where it was grown.
And you might want to take his word for it.Īs the “blendmaster” of the largest herbal tea company in the United States, Baden knows a thing or two about tea. In the corner of the shop, Charlie Baden proudly holds up one box: Jammin’ Lemon Ginger.
#SLEEPYTIME TEA CULT WINDOWS#
Other people, arms loaded with teapots, cups and trinkets, file toward the on-site cafe, where you can eat healthy food by oversized windows looking out onto the lawn.
#SLEEPYTIME TEA CULT FULL#
Groups of hairnet-wearing visitors file into the full store after completing a factory tour. This year, Celestial Seasonings turns 50.Īs you stand in the packed gift shop at the Boulder-based facility and see row upon row of tea boxes, it’s easy to get swept up in the hugeness of it all. After all, the business moves millions of pounds of tea every year and is the No.
Surely, you know Celestial Seasonings, with its stringless tea bags in colorful, artsy boxes. It’s also the story of how a drum-playing, self-proclaimed Boulder hippie would climb from being a bottom-rung temp worker to being the name and, er, tastebuds of the business. It’s the story of how a group of local hikers ended up accidentally founding a multi-million dollar business - a creative industry groundbreaker that would help lead the natural foods movement in Boulder and far beyond.
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