| Type | Tea Shop |
| Style | Asian |
| Serves | Chai, Iced, Loose-leaf |
| Features | Tastings |
| Hours | |
|---|---|
| Mon – Sat | 9:30 AM – 9:00 PM |
| Sunday | 11:30 AM – 6:00 PM |
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I’m not a fan of Teavana. I’ve gone into a few of their stores and purchased some of their products, and I have not been impressed with the quality of their merchandise. The teas are over-priced, they won’t just sell you a small amount, they try to push over-priced tea tins on you, and the salespeople give incorrect information to customers. The tea accessories I have gotten there have not been much better. Nearly every accessory I have purchased or been given from Teavana has arrived broken (refund refused) or broken after a few uses.
Teavana is all right. The con: their strength is not their teas.
Teavana seems to have a wide selection of teas from around the world. However, most of what they sell are overly blended teas with way too many ingredients. You can’t even taste the base by the time they add all those flavorings, spices, nuts, berries, and flowers. The final product is gross.
In addition, they don’t allow the tea to speak for itself. They give kitschy, unrealistic descriptions of the tea’s “health benefits” as its selling point. I’d rather not hear false, misleading comments that the tea might prevent cancer and instead hear a concise, objective description of the tea’s taste.
Also, don’t go in expecting to try teas for free before you buy. This place will charge you upwards of $6 to try a tea on their shelves. Yes, they have a couple free samples at the entrance, but these are almost always overly blended, sickly sweet iced teas.
The pro: they have a wide selection of teaware and accessories, including some awesome brewing and steeping accessories. I’m particularly a fan of their Classic Comfort Touch Tea Strainer with lid. It’s a perfect replacement for the Piao I Teapot I had, which constantly broke after a few uses.
Teavana’s prices are also unreasonably steep for the quality they deliver. This is an excellent shop to go to if you need a teapot. But I’ll never buy teas from them again. For a better selection, tastier blends, and affordable prices, go to Lupicia instead. Lupicia offers far superior quality for so much less money.
To see what happened on my most recent trip to Teavana, see my review of their
“Silver Yin Zhen Pearls”: http://steepster.com/Charoma/posts/81897
