Now that Teavana has been Sold to Starbucks for 620 Million How Are You Feeling?

77 Replies

I had never heard of teavana until I joined this site, and I have little use for starbucks. I use a small handful of Tazo teas, most in summer.
Now having heard of teavana, I don’t find the product line markets well to my tastes, I am grateful to be able to remain indifferent to the whole deal.

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Crystal said

I’ve been to the Teavana store in Honolulu and their sales tactics are super pushy. Their teas are okay, but I prefer Lupicia and Kusmi (two other tea vendors I’ve tried).

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momo said

I have a friend in the coffee business who hates Starbucks and he is defending the heck out of Teavana to me on Facebook….baffling.

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Mark B select said

I’m ashamed to say I too got my start brewing loose leaf tea from Teavana. I’m no hater, but a small amount of research will reveal many cost effective and fresher alternatives online and often locally.

Though when I heard they had a 75% off sale I dropped everything I was doing and braved the traffic in my local mall’s parking lot to buy a half pound of their Gyokuro. At $5/2oz (usually $20), I was happy to stockpile. I like that tea. A fine Gyokuro IMHO. I’m not much of a blend guy, so wasn’t t taken in by many of their other offerings. But at such a steep discount I couldn’t help but buy a couple/four oz. here and there of white, black and an oolong. I wish they’d let me sample them first. I like that about Bird Pick. I was also pleased to see the employees refresh each of the teas I was choosing from newly opened vacuum sealed bags.

I kinda like Teavana accessories too. I almost got a fancy digital water boiling system, but even at 50% off, I fought the urge. I DID buy one of those clay lined tumblers for cheap. That’s some tea paraphernalia that I have a hard time justifying, but the price sucked me in. For what it’s worth, nobody sold me hard, they pointed out things, but I succumbed to my own desires.

I’m no Starbucks hater. As a caffeine delivery system, I find they offer a powerful cup of joe. And as decaf goes, I’ve found I prefer their coffee to others. I hope the two companies are good for each other. I’m curious to see how they are incorporated. I know when I’m traveling in the US, and run out of my supply of travel tea, I can always swing by a local mall and stock up on something palatable at Teavana. If being absorbed into the SB’s family means they’ll be even more available, I’m all for it. But I’m not terribly hopeful. I’d be more concerned if Teavana was more of a boutique seller and got purchased by SB.

There’s no shame in it… the point is that you got your start

And Teavana still has a few things I like. I for one will strive to drink the things I like, and maybe it’s not the most prestigious or best quality all the time. I don’t care though, all that matters is that I like it.

Tea is supposed to be enjoyed.

za-hi said

yes, tea is supposed to be enjoyed. the thing is, though, that they charge a premium for their tea. if they priced their tea accordingly, then they wouldn’t be getting as much hate. not only are their prices unreasonable for the quality, their sales tactics are pushy and annoying.

but if you like it, then that’s your prerogative. enjoy

@za-hi Woah, do you not read timestamps or something? I wrote that 2 years ago, and Teavana has only progressively gotten more commercialized and worse since. Of course it’s possible that one’s attitude towards a company can change over time…

Anyway, I only buy their stuff (if anything) online during their bigger sales, if they still do their massive sales on anything good anymore. Their Gyokuro was marked down to 5 USD/2oz at one point, who’s not going to jump on that?

But even then, that was a year and a half ago… I haven’t bought anything from Teavana since then.

So what I’m saying in a roundabout way is, your attempt at educating me is really only preaching to the choir, and really in a way, more annoying than Teavana could ever be.

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za-hi said

teavana was a gateway into loose leaf, specifically tieguanyin (they call it monkey picked oolong). however after i’ve tried better quality tea for a better price, i’ve moved onto that. i don’t care what happens to that place. for some reason i associate teavana customers with those typical white girls who are all about their, "white peach tea with razzmatazz and crystal berry infusion. like yum!

when i was buying a cup of monkey picked oolong, the manager asked why i was buying a cup instead of 2 oz of the tea (in a snobby, you’re a dumb ass kind of way). so i told him that i’d rather pay $15 for 3.5 oz of oolong, knowing that it’s better quality than what you’re selling. then he said how do you know it’s better quality when you’re getting more of it for a cheaper price. i then told him that when a vendor is backed by a community of tea enthusiasts, then you know that the vendor sells quality tea. i also informed that when the majority of the tea enthusiasts have nothing but negative experiences with the company, then you know that the company is full of bs. i then cancelled the order and walked out of there like a boss.

Nice! I would have loved to have seen that. I for one don’t ever go there. It’s existence isn’t even a thought in my mind. As for you, way to go! :)

Haha. I only go there for the iced samples.

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Grrrlhowdy said

I’m a little addicted to their blackberry mojito tea. Not much else, though. But I’ve been wondering lately if I can’t make my own with the mass of green tea I got from David’s and hate (on its own), plus spearmint tea from wherever and some fresh blackberries. Anyone tried something like that?

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Teavana was also my gateway into looseleaf. I think it is for many. I still like a few of their teas, but they are mostly food and not tea. And they tend to discontinue what I like anyway. Love their pots though. So pretty.

I might try more if they were cheaper and didn’t put chicory/ hibiscus in everything.

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carol who said

I’m confuse about why most of the posts say they were made 2 years ago. Didn’t this just recently happen?

I do like some Teavana teas. I haven’t had terrible experiences with the sales people. I just start by asking them a question or two that they can’t answer and they pretty much back off. (It’s not hard to come up with questions they can’t answer, hahaha) They are very impressed by a mention of Steepster. I have actually gotten free to-go cups of tea. They will make up samples or a to-go cup of some of their really expensive teas. I’m not saying they are wonderful but they certainly an entry level for many tea drinkers. I wouldn’t say they are a favorite company but when I just have to buy some tea (you all know the desperation to buy new teas) where you just can’t wait for it to be delivered so a brick and mortar store works.

Also they do have some great seasonal sales. Last year I got a bunch of teas and tins at 75% off. Almost any tea is pretty good at 75% off :)

I only like some of their teas and I’m upset that they removed nuts from all their blends… even teas that have the word “nut” in the name.

I do wonder how the Starbucks thing will it effect the company but I figure I’ll just have to wait and see.

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All of the new cylindrical tins of Teavana blends now available at Starbucks contain artificial flavoring. That’s my biggest gripe. Plus it’s somewhat expensive: $12 for 50 grams—even for English breakfast! The Tazo sachets were 15 for $6.95, with weights ranging from 1 to 2 ounces.

The Tazo Collection of loose-leaf teas is now history, as are the full-leaf sachets in beautiful silver rectangular tins. I bought a bunch of them as they were going out the door. No artificial flavorings in the Tazo line whatsoever. I do not like the recent versions of Tazo filterbags, which seem to be the sole survivors and continue to be sold in grocery stores, but I do like the loose leaf and sachet Tazo teas, which I’ll enjoy chez moi until they are gone.

Alas, the Tazo line was completely mismanaged post-acquisition. So now it’s Teavana in the Starbucks stores, which does not make a lot of sense to me, given the number of Teavana stores. Why not just go to Teavana?

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IMANI said

I worked at Teavana during the transition and just… oh my. I truly dislike Teavana, their business ethics, their sales tactics, EVERYTHING about Teavana. During the trainings they have you sample all the teas- I worked in a tea house during college which is where my love for tea was born but Teavana nearly ruined that. The quality is horrid— with very few exceptions. And there’s a ton of junk and gunk in their products. But I do appreciate the Teavana/Starbucks union only because Teavana is going to start having cafe like settings- which means more people will be drawn to tea- which means more ppl will share this passion!

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