A Tea Addict's Journal

Teavana

January 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I hate Teavana

I used to think that it’s ok, they sell tea, they are trying to promote the drink just like anybody else…. and the thinking was, the more people there are who drink tea, the better.

Now, I’m not so sure.

I happened to stop by one today in the mall, so I figured, why not, I’ll go take a look. First of all, of course, there is the extremely overpriced teapots — such as $80 ugly 16oz yixing pots that are obviously machine made and very “oriental” in a negative way. Then you have the cheap Chinese made tetsubins that are really unsuitable for anything in particular. Then you have the $30 gaiwan that is far too large and flat for real use (it’s a breakage waiting to happen). Then you have the tea…

Oh the “tea”…

They always have teas out to let you sample. I figured I’d try one. This one was what they called “Utopian Jade Oolong” with “Roobois Key Lime”. How you blend the two together, I don’t know…. but I had about half a sip of it and I nearly threw up. The stuff tasted most like a fruit syrup of some sort — there was nothing “tea” about this blend, and everything sugary about it. The flavouring is obviously some artificial crap, and is just disgusting.

I picked up their catalogue, and found that Utopian Jade Oolong is, in fact, a mix of some cheap oolong tea and red raspberries and strawberries — probably dried and sugared to the nth degree.

This is why I have a problem with them — if they’re just trying to sell good, honest tea (and there are a few things on the catalogue that might qualify — if it weren’t so overpriced) then I am perfectly fine with them. With what they have right now though, this is no more than a sugar loaded soft drink pretending to be healthy (antioxidants, “good for your health” are everywhere on the catalogue). It’s not, and it’s shameful.

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