teavana

[Ti]

I'm going to be near a Teavana at weeks end and i will probably stop in. Is their matcha worth buying?

[Geekgirl]

No.

[auggy]

Tell us how you really feel!

[Space Samurai]

I wouldn't buy it. Just look at it. That is not happy matcha. Old matcha looks like that.

[scruffmcgruff]

I wouldn't buy it. Just look at it. That is not happy matcha. Old matcha looks like that.

Seriously. And that's their studio photo, so you know that is the best it gets.

[Chip]

Sadcha.

Matcha

[Ti]

It does sort of look like the begining of green noodle dough. Most of their tea seems to be flavored as well.

[Chip]

HappyCha (photo from Space's blog)

[Buzz Fledderjohn]

HappyCha (photo from Space's blog)

You'd better credit him...or he'll come after you for image theft.

[Space Samurai]

[devites]

I think there dragonwell is alright, but DragonTeahouse is far superior. Haha they only charge $15 for gyokuro. Don't get the sencha it is disgusting. There six summits Oolong is good and their golden monkey black tea is great.
Bottom line: evil corporation taking advantage of tea noobs by overpricing for inferior teas. I went their for 3 months until Adagio (heard about from diggnation) showed me real tea. Now I would never go their except maybe for teaware.

[Pentox]

I think there dragonwell is alright, but DragonTeahouse is far superior. Haha they only charge $15 for gyokuro. Don't get the sencha it is disgusting. There six summits Oolong is good and their golden monkey black tea is great.
Bottom line: evil corporation taking advantage of tea noobs by overpricing for inferior teas. I went their for 3 months until Adagio (heard about from diggnation) showed me real tea. Now I would never go their except maybe for teaware.

I wouldn't say that they're an evil corporation. They do what they do and they're doing it fairly well in my opinion. They are exposing non-tea drinkers to tea and finding starbuckesque drinks that appeal to a larger crowd, much like even if you don't like coffee you might like a carmel frappuccino. They are a gateway into the good stuff. And they have some nice teawares.

[devites]

I was just joking calling them an evil corporation. I don't think they are evil, but I used to go their pretty regularly and after I had good tea, I never went back. I do think they are bad because there real tea is lower quality and deter people away from real tea.

[inspectoring]

their matcha is stored at room temperature - and there is not expiration date. The sales clerk states that the can is good for a year.

Now compare this to the itoen matcha - their cans are dated with an expiration date (3 to 3.5 months from the day the matcha was made in Japan).

Price - well - they are the same.

I would NEVER EVER recommend teavana for matcha.

[edkrueger]

ScaryCha