Review for Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Tea

This review is for Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea. I love to try new teas, and when I saw this product on the shelf, I couldn't help but be interested. I'd already tried some of the Celestial Seasonings chai spice teas, and I thought that I'd give this one a try. I was expecting a thick, spicy tea based in black tea, but this one was milder and didn't have any of the negative effects of black tea (such as stomach ailments and jitteriness from the tannins).

Once again, this company has outdone itself with the packaging. Each of their teas has a unique theme, with an amazing array of accompanying artwork. For the Bengal Spice tea, the artwork features a majestic, exotic tiger atop a flying carpet.

The cover says "100% Natural Herbal Tea" and plus, it's caffeine free. I got it for 2.12 dollars at Wal-mart, for 20 bags. Its ingredients are cinnamon, roasted chicory, roasted carob, natural spice and vanilla flavors with other natural flavors, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg.

Usually I find spicy teas to be overpowering and requiring lots of sugar to satisfy my palate. This tea, however, is full of spices, without an ounce of sugar and yet is sumptuously sweet! How can this be? Well, first of all, the vanilla tempers the spiciness. And yet, upon closer examination of the ingredients list, I see roasted carob. If you don't know what carob is, it's a dark-brown pod that is native to the Mediterranean. It has a nice-chocolate-y taste is often used as a chocolate substitute. It has calcium, phosphorus and potassium. It has been purportedly used to help people survive during wars. And what's great is, it's naturally sweet! Which explains why the tea possesses a mild sweetness without any sugar. I love to add some milk to this for a lovely cup of tea.

Also, when the summer months preclude any desires for hot tea, one can turn this tea into a delectable iced tea! I use five tea bags and take a few cups of boiling water and pour it over them. I let it steep, and let the water cool down a bit. I then add ice cubes and either milk and sugar. It's great to take outside to lie in the sun. Enjoy!