36
drank Bourbon Vanilla by Teaopia
1473 tasting notes

I…..hmm. I didn’t care much for this one, and that makes me sad. I’ve been searching for a good vanilla black and this is not it. It’s my first Teaopia tea and I’m not so impressed. Both with the shop itself, the employees were slightly rude and completely unhelpful, and with the tea. There was no, “Oh, it’s your first time here? Well, this is what is in this tea, and this tea is similar, it has this and that and this…” Nope. Just pulled down the few I wanted to smell, waved the lid of the tin in an effort to bring the smell to me, I think, but in actuality waved the scent of the teas away from me, and bagged it up. I bought 50 g of Dublin Cream thinking, foolishly, it was an Irish Cream, but no. It’s black tea, coffee beans, and jasmine. The store was so dark that I couldn’t actually see in the tins, which was irritating in and of itself.

As for the flavor of the tea, well, the tea was bitter and the vanilla was weak. So it was everything I never wanted in a tea XD

I think I’ve been utterly spoiled by DavidsTea, both in tea flavor and customer service.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Indigobloom

Did you go to Sq1? I’ve noticed that about the employees there. The one near the new DT by my work is so much better :)

Daddyselephant

No, it was the one downtown on Queen Street. I dunno, I haven’t heard good things and this visit seemed to confirm that.

Indigobloom

oh the new location? yah the David’s Queen st people said the same thing! ah well I get awesome customer service at my location but sometimes the tea is questionable lol

Daddyselephant

Yeah, I wasn’t very impressed. Though I will be returning for a giant tin of vanilla mint mate XD

Michiroo

I work for Teaopia and the employees shouldn’t act like that at all. We’re supposed to keep taking down tins for you and suggesting teas until you confirm you don’t want any more. AND there’s even a strict method of how we wave the scent to you as well…. so yeah. I would definitely report your negative experience to the company, as that store doesn’t seem to be doing their job properly. :) Our district manager is pretty intense about customer service.

Daddyselephant

Done and done. It is worth mentioning that I haven’t set foot in a Teaopia since I visited this store.

Michiroo

Aww, it’s really a shame! Yeah, the district manager will REALLY kick their butts for that. I work in Burlington and both our stores there are super friendly and helpful! Everyone at my store loves our job and loves tea!
I do notice the atmosphere different from store to store. It depends on the manager. Both the stores in my town have a very relaxed, happy attitude and that’s because both of the managers are very laid back.(Which is supposed to be the atmosphere in the stores.) Meanwhile, I’ve heard that the Square One location is very competitive with sales and pushy.
In the end of the day it’s one of those situations where you can blame the whole company for the actions of one store. All you can do is make sure that the company knows about it so the situation can be fixed. Still, I apologize for it! :(

Tina S.

Sadly the Brampton location is the same as Square One, so avoid that one as well. Multiple complaints haven’t fixed it. :(

Daddyselephant

Yeah, I work in Square One occasionally and can’t walk by there without one of the employees pushily trying to guide me into their store. “No thanks” only works occasionally.

Daddyselephant

Just for a quick follow up, I finally received a reply (I sent the email Thursday night). It was, essentially, “thanks for letting us know”. Blegh. I guess I really have been spoiled by DavidsTea and their customer service…I’ve complained to them about much smaller issues and they’ve bent over backwards to make it right (including responding to my e-mail within a matter of hours). When you’re used to that kind of good service, a “thanks for letting us know” e-mail just doesn’t seem to cut it.

Michiroo, I’m glad you have such pride in the company you work for, I honestly believe that is an important part to any job, and I’m sure that if I frequented your store, things would be much different. But from what I’ve seen, Teaopia just isn’t a store I want to support and I continued to stand by my belief that Teaopia is the Teavana of Canada. This whole experience has done nothing to convince me to try the brand again. shrugs

It’s likely for the best…I have too many teas anyway ;)

Michiroo

I agree, I’d be pretty peeved if that email was all I got as well. :S
Maybe I’ve just been blessed with working in one of the better stores..? lol.
But yeah, I don’t blame you! In any case, enjoy your tea! (I have wayyyy too much tea as well… haha, but I can’t stop buying them! <3 )

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Indigobloom

Did you go to Sq1? I’ve noticed that about the employees there. The one near the new DT by my work is so much better :)

Daddyselephant

No, it was the one downtown on Queen Street. I dunno, I haven’t heard good things and this visit seemed to confirm that.

Indigobloom

oh the new location? yah the David’s Queen st people said the same thing! ah well I get awesome customer service at my location but sometimes the tea is questionable lol

Daddyselephant

Yeah, I wasn’t very impressed. Though I will be returning for a giant tin of vanilla mint mate XD

Michiroo

I work for Teaopia and the employees shouldn’t act like that at all. We’re supposed to keep taking down tins for you and suggesting teas until you confirm you don’t want any more. AND there’s even a strict method of how we wave the scent to you as well…. so yeah. I would definitely report your negative experience to the company, as that store doesn’t seem to be doing their job properly. :) Our district manager is pretty intense about customer service.

Daddyselephant

Done and done. It is worth mentioning that I haven’t set foot in a Teaopia since I visited this store.

Michiroo

Aww, it’s really a shame! Yeah, the district manager will REALLY kick their butts for that. I work in Burlington and both our stores there are super friendly and helpful! Everyone at my store loves our job and loves tea!
I do notice the atmosphere different from store to store. It depends on the manager. Both the stores in my town have a very relaxed, happy attitude and that’s because both of the managers are very laid back.(Which is supposed to be the atmosphere in the stores.) Meanwhile, I’ve heard that the Square One location is very competitive with sales and pushy.
In the end of the day it’s one of those situations where you can blame the whole company for the actions of one store. All you can do is make sure that the company knows about it so the situation can be fixed. Still, I apologize for it! :(

Tina S.

Sadly the Brampton location is the same as Square One, so avoid that one as well. Multiple complaints haven’t fixed it. :(

Daddyselephant

Yeah, I work in Square One occasionally and can’t walk by there without one of the employees pushily trying to guide me into their store. “No thanks” only works occasionally.

Daddyselephant

Just for a quick follow up, I finally received a reply (I sent the email Thursday night). It was, essentially, “thanks for letting us know”. Blegh. I guess I really have been spoiled by DavidsTea and their customer service…I’ve complained to them about much smaller issues and they’ve bent over backwards to make it right (including responding to my e-mail within a matter of hours). When you’re used to that kind of good service, a “thanks for letting us know” e-mail just doesn’t seem to cut it.

Michiroo, I’m glad you have such pride in the company you work for, I honestly believe that is an important part to any job, and I’m sure that if I frequented your store, things would be much different. But from what I’ve seen, Teaopia just isn’t a store I want to support and I continued to stand by my belief that Teaopia is the Teavana of Canada. This whole experience has done nothing to convince me to try the brand again. shrugs

It’s likely for the best…I have too many teas anyway ;)

Michiroo

I agree, I’d be pretty peeved if that email was all I got as well. :S
Maybe I’ve just been blessed with working in one of the better stores..? lol.
But yeah, I don’t blame you! In any case, enjoy your tea! (I have wayyyy too much tea as well… haha, but I can’t stop buying them! <3 )

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Formerly aisling of tea, now you can call me ele .

“You can forgive a murder, but never a mistake while preparing tea.” Chinese proverb

Labels? Here you go: Femme, Wife, Lesbian, Homemaker, Happy. Don’t forget tea fanatic!

New label as of May, 2015: Diabetic. I’m using tea to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings and keep me hydrated without hurting my system or messing with my blood sugar.

Ah, tea. My love for you is ever changing. At my last update, I was all about the rooibos and now I hardly drink it. I only occasionally had an oolong and now I have one just about every day. I’ve learned the art of resteeping and coldbrewing and kombucha. I have a lovely little tea pet named…well, I haven’t decided on a name for him yet. I also have five! live pets, a tabby cat named Rosabella Francis (Bella for short), a ginger cat named Orange Julius Pekoe (Pekoe), a white and grey cat named Earl Jean Grey (Earlie), a tuxedo cat (and the only boy in the house) Prince Erik Darien Darjeeling (JiJi) and a red foot tortoise named Da Hong Pao (Pao). So if you see me referring to my girls, I don’t have kids, just animals.

As for tea, I love oolongs, herbals, and black tea. Since I am no longer working, I no longer feel the constant need for a mate energy boost, though I do still reach for it from time to time. I also drink less matcha, though I do throw a spoonful or two in when I’m making smoothies. Most of my tea I drink coldbrewed, and since I discovered coldbrewed rooibos was giving me headaches, I’m drinking less and less of it. Straight pu-erh is not a thing I enjoy, but there are a few flavored blends I like. Greens are still too finicky for me to bother with hot, but they make great cold brews.

I am by no means a tea purist. I greatly enjoy flavored teas and I put stevia in all of my teas. It’s just how I do.

I think I’m going to name my tea pet Mr. Turtle. Even though he’s a tortoise.

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Scarborough, ON

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