I know it seems like the hip thing to do, hate on Teavana...

[tomasini]

But there are the occasional, if rare, good stories to tell...

**Let it be known that where I live there are no real tea shops nearby with the exception of Teavana. **

I needed a fix, I had been out of my Rishi Darjeeling for a week or two and I was going through withdrawls in the AM. I decided to make a trip over to my local mall to snag a few ounces from Teavana. When I got there, I was greeted witthe same beautiful face I always hope to see when I go in, and I placed my order for 2 ounces of their second flush Margret's Hope Darjeeling. They got a little busy and I was in no rush so i looked around for a minute and when I turned around the young woman who was helping me had left me with not 2, but close o 6 or 8 ounces of tea. I only payed around 7 bucks for it. And to top it off I got a cup of Gyokuro on the house =]
There teas may be a little less than great sometimes, and their prices a little more than reasonable most of the time, but the people there are very nice. And in this case absolutely beautiful
I know, this may not be the case in your area, but my Teavana people here in the ATL kick ass.
God Bless'em.

[Space Samurai]

I don't hate them, I probably wouldn't shop there, but I don't hate them. I believe there is to much hate in the world, so I force myself to limit my hating of others. I am on a hate diet, if you will, and I reserve all of it, at least tea speaking, for Republic of tea.

CURTIS!

[scruffmcgruff]

As a loyal Teavana basher, I thought I'd chime in.

1. How hot was your gyokuro? I got gyokuro there once and it was brewed with near-boiling water. Need I say more?

2. You can get 2oz. of Margaret's Hope for cheaper than $7, and it will be fresher than what they have. ($7 for 8oz is pretty good though, definitely worth it.)

Still, at least you had a good experience, which is far more than I can say about my forays into the depths of Tea-Samsara, and I guess that's all that really matters.

[tomasini]

1. How hot was your gyokuro? I got gyokuro there once and it was brewed with near-boiling water. Need I say more?

ya, that was about right :-/ but free is free

[Chip]

...well, just because said beautiful girl gave you extra tea at the expense of management, does not make Teavana any better, or worse. This is simply an irrelevant side bar.

I have never purchased Teavana tea, but people give it to me from time to time. I have had one good Monkey Picked oolong. The rest have been not so good. They certainly seem to be highly overpriced.

I have no plans what so ever to buy from them.

[Mary R]

I don't hate Teavana...I'm just very disappointed in their overall business model. That and their blatant overpricing. Heck, I'd gladly pay if the quality was commensurate with the price tag...but it isn't.

I've had customer service experiences on both sides of the spectrum with Teavana, though none quite as good as yours, Tomasini. Maybe it has something to do with the Atlanta area? That's their hometown after all. When I worked for Nationwide Insurance (HQ Columbus, OH), I found that the Ohio agents were positively bloodthirsty compared to the Indiana crowd--they'd tie themselves in a knot if it made the customer happy.

[lenny7]

Our local Teavana is in the Mall of America, which I avoid like Liptons. I have been there, however, and found things I liked, and things I didn't.

I liked that they had 10 or so hot pots of tea sitting out for you to sample.

I liked that they had such cool teapots.

I liked that they had a great variety.

I liked that cute gal behind the counter.

I didn't like the prices

I didn't like the fact that most of their teas seemed to be blends and flavored teas

I hate the fact that they packed my tea in bag that was not air tight.

My wife loved the cute designer paper bag with the hoop handles.

My wife loved the fact that she actually got me into the Mall of America.

"Hate" is such a strong word. I don't hate Teavana, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back. If I were there anyway, I'd sample the teas and probably buy a few ounces though.

[tomasini]

i seem to be the only one who doesnt go more than i already do based on threats from xine

[SnapshotCat]

I didn't realize they were a chain. I haven't spent much time on their site which may be the reason for my ignorance. There isn't one local to me and I haven't ordered from them so I don't hate them yet.

[xine]

hehe, did I ever threat you with death for going to teavana? My memory is so murky, nowadays...

Also, I shouldn't hate too much. I haven't been to a teavana yet. There is one at this mall near us, Garden State Plaza, and last time I was there, I was too busy to take a peak. I should check it out though, as to see what the buzz is all about.

[tomasini]

i beleive your exact words were...

"tomasini, if you ever go to that God Forasken tea shop again i'll break your legs and feed you to the celestial seasonigs tea bag machine

[wanna-be buddha]

I've only bought a few teas at Teavana, but aside from the price, I have no major beef. Their genmaicha was incredibly stale, and for staleness to be noticeable in genmaicha means it's pretty bad (at least according to my unschooled palate).

Last year I got some first-flush sencha at Teavana which was quite nice, however, and only about $7 for four ounces. Not too bad, all things considered. I also got an Iwachu tetsubin for $45. It's easy to hate on Iwachu, but considering the pot normally went for $70, I'm pretty okay with it.

[teaspoon]

Ya know, I've never been to Teavana, but I'm of the mind that any tea shop can be a decent experience. But then I also no longer have a tea shop in town at all *cries*

~tsp

[jogrebe]

Ya know, I've never been to Teavana, but I'm of the mind that any tea shop can be a decent experience. But then I also no longer have a tea shop in town at all *cries*

~tsp

Oh no what happened to the tea shop in your town?

[tomasini]

starbucks assasin team, that's what happened.