Teavana

As a woman from the south, one might think I drink a lot of tea. Sadly that’s not the case because I’m allergic to black tea which means the good stuff (sweet tea) is off limits to me. I’ve had the occasional green tea with sushi or flavored white tea, but none of them made me want to give up my coffee addition.
I realize tea has more health benefits than coffee does, but every time someone made it for me I could still slightly taste the bag it sat in for ages and it grossed me out. That was when one of my coworkers suggested I try Teavana because it’s loose leaf tea, aka no bags are used in the steeping process.
Immediately I was blown away by how many choices they have. «Oh, you can’t have black tea? No problem! How about rooibos, white, oolong, mate, green, or one of the tea blends like pumpkin spice?» Point to whichever one you want and they will take the bin down from the wall and waft the glorious scent at you for approval.
I love that you can see pieces of dried spices and fruits in the teas too. And all the fancy pots and cups they have! Even tumblers in a variety of colors with built in steepers for on the go. Gorgeous storage tins as well to keep your tea fresh. I also recommend their rock sugar crystals which give natural sweetness as your tea steeps so you don’t have to add all the artificial junk to it later.
My favorite flavor is the Samurai Chai Mate blended with the White Ayurvedic Chai (which they will do in store for you). It has just the right amount of caffeine with a rich cinnamon and clove flavor. I’ve also tried their blueberry one which was great and currently am obsessed with their pumpkin spice.
They are VERY pricey (I spent $ 40 on half a pound of tea), but the quality is worth it because I’ve never had better. They do offer a discount when you buy a pound, but having never done so I’m not sure how much that is. Remember to pay attention to the label they print out for you too. Each tea has a different steeping time and if you let it sit for too long it can become overpowering/​bitter.
Pro tip: Don’t use water you wouldn’t drink straight (for example: from the tap) for your tea. The better the water, the better your tea will taste.

So for Christmas last year my mom got me a gift set from here. It was the Teavana Perfectea Maker and 4 different kinds of loose leaf tea. It took me a bit to break into it all and really get into it. For the past 5 months I have been exploring the set and I am proud to announce that I love my Perfectea maker! It is so handy and useful. I actually keep it at my desk at work so I can enjoy my tea throughout the day and it has worked out great!
The 4 flavors I got were Blueberry Bliss and Pineapple Kona Pop, Youthberry & Wild Orange Blossom, Maharaja Chai Oolong & Samuri Chai Mate and Strawberry Rose Peach Tranquility. My least favorite was the Chai. My tops favorites in the set were the Blueberry and Orange. I happened to be at Barton Creek Mall one day and saw this store so I stopped in to price everything and check it out. I wasn’t sure how it worked so I talked to the girl working and she was so nice and polite. She definitely knew her tea stuff! She also had some great recommendations and answered all my questions. Apparently some flavors are seasonal and they change out. They actually blend the loose leaf tea flavors on the spot too. It was a little pricey I thought, but I don’t mind splurging on it every now and then.
They also have all sorts of tea products here … anything related to tea and they have it!

Yes the tea is a over-​priced but IMO it is good. One could say the same thing about Starbucks except their coffee is NOT so good.
I have been in the store several times and have never found the salespeople to be overly pushy. The store is small and there are quite a few sales people so perhaps they hover a little too much.
Its my shopping experience and my money. If I want to peruse a store and a salesperson is bothering me then I simply tell them «thanks for your help, I will let you know if I need anything». Usually they get the message even if they don’t like it. If they continue to bother me or send someone else then its time to leave.
Don’t be bullied into buying something you don’t want!

I see a lot of negative reviews. Apparently the salespeople are pushy? Maybe there have been some staff changes/​rules/​new guidelines to selling because I certainly didn’t feel like they were too aggressive and pushy! They were great! Knowledgable, helpful and nice. They suggest teas based on ones you like. Of course they try to sell you more teas, it’s their job! I got 3, 2 are blended together to make one tea, Winterberry. But they’re also great on their own. The other one I got was delicious as well. I also bought a tad bit of the rock sugar too. I spent about $ 30. So a tad bit expensive, but it’s great quality loose leaf tea. I was instructed that I could use the leaves twice and the clerk was right. They now have bags they use to put the tea in or they may try to sell you a tin, again-it’s their job. I declined and she was perfectly content to put it inside of bags for me. All the while instructing me on how to make my tea perfectly. I walked out a happy customer! I recommend trying it out again if you last went 1−2+ years ago. There have clearly been some major changes! Also, as long as the tea isn’t on sale, if you take it home, brew it and you don’t like it, you can RETURN it! So you can’t feel buyers remorse for spending a pretty penny on tea that you don’t like! Laura & Brandy were the cracks that helped me. Great employees Teavana!

The reviews here are spot on. I can see straight through salespeople’s BS. The good old «oh this ginger tea goes great with …» or «oh come here and just smell this really fast I LOOOOOOVE the smell» or «oh they are discontinuing this forever and you MUST BUY IT NOOOOOOW» Anyway, tea is overpriced, but good quality, got one carton or whatever you call it at half price (around $ 20). They really do want you to spend at least $ 75 or they consider their sale a fail. It’s pretty obvious.

I always get a tea to go if I happen to be at this mall. I spend about $ 5. It is delicious, but don’t buy any tea in a can. Not worth the money.
Be frank, and don’t be afraid to say no! The sales people are very aggressive.

I discovered Teavana when I lived in FL, and was excited to find one here. They are extremely expensive and I feel like they work on commission, because they are aggressive sales people. I do enjoy their tea and if I taste one in the store that I love, I’ll buy it. My last visit, I spent over $ 100. Be cautious… they will try to reel you in for more and more once you’ve chosen something!

Pushy sales staff, overpriced tea and by the way, if you buy anything on «sale», you can’t return it. I went in buying a single cup tea maker with a built in strainer as a gift, and the associate, knowing it was a gift, neglected to tell me I could not return it. I bought 2 because they were on sale. The person I gave it to didn’t want it. I went to return and the associate not only said I couldn’t return it, but that it was a «good thing» I now had two because hers just broke and it’s good to have a backup. Don’t I feel special? I’m stuck with TWO that are gonna break!

Unreasonably pushy staff. Deplorable how they lie about how much tea they are measuring out. I had to tell the employee three or four times that I did NOT want more than I said. I told them how much I wanted, and they responded with a number higher than I said (the weight of the tea) MORE THAN ONCE. I’ve never been somewhere where they ignore what you say in order to strong arm you into spending more.

I’ll sum up the other posts here (which I wish I had read before going here).
Tea is great.
Staff is unreasonably pushy.
I went to one in Dallas (first time) and I’m new to tea. Sales pitch was hard, but I left to think about it (too much money to spend on a tumbler and tea without researching). I live in Austin, so I went to this location to buy what I’d been thinking about getting.
The young saleswoman I talked to wasn’t that pushy, but after I told her I was new to tea, was stretching the truth in a few different directions. One thing, which I can’t let go is that with the $ 10 per ounce Gyokuro Imperial Green, she said I could steep it up to 9 times if I ‘shocked’ it. 9 times? I shocked it, but on my third steep this morning there’s hardly any flavor left… super light color and basically just hot water.
Not cool being lied to, but I should have done more research before going. This tea was fantastic, but I doubt I’ll pay this much again for it. And if I do, I’ll buy it online.

It is sad to say I worked here from September 2011– February 2012 and I literally had to quit cold turkey and risk having no money, due to the working conditions and the sheer way they forced us to treat the customers.
When you first apply you are wanting to learn about teas and sell teas, and they trick you into thinking that is what the job is about 100%. You learn from booklets, take quizzes and they really teach you a lot about teas, but once that is over it’s to late, you are about to get your first pay check when they hit you with their real intentions.
You are then taught the methods of «drawing the customers in», which is when someone is outside handing out samples. Now you customers are suppose to think it’s like the food court where you try it and if you like it come on in, but that couldn’t be more wrong of our intentions. That is to get you into the store and hand you off to someone else before you know how to leave the situation. We were taught to pull you to someone else that way your common courtesy kicks in and you can’t just say «No Thanks» to the random person who hasn’t shown you anything. They then bring you around to other teas and they make you feel like you are just getting awesome samples galore but what you don’t know is we are taking you deeper and deeper into the scheme.
Once your samples are done you think you are conveniently near all the teas and the tea counter so the person who has been showing you samples passes you off onto another person where you get to smell all the loose leaf teas. Remember that the way we were taught was to play it off like we are just showing you our products, but what they taught us, and I quote «They want to spend over $ 100 in teas they just don’t know it yet, your job it to show them». That is why when you go and you see us dumping the teas into those big tins those aren’t for show those are meant to be yours based off what the last employee noticed you liked while taking you on that sample run.
Sick right? Well unfortunately what you see from your side isn’t all of it. You ever go there and notice all the employees are young? No older than say 25? Because they target young kids who are vulnerable to learning and adapting to these «methods». Most like me notice and bail, others aren’t so fortunate and based off of the amount of people who leave you move up quick and they also target that as well.
We didn’t get good hours if we didn’t sell enough tins, exclusive teas (the ones that are $ 18-​$ 22 per 2 oz.) and accessories such as teapots or brewers.
I left straight up after I would come to work sick throwing up knowing I had to treat people like someone I am not. Out of common courtesy I choose not to post this for so long but I see they still are treating customers the same way and I can’t keep quiet any longer. It was by far the worst job I have ever had and am ashamed that I feel victim to their games.

If I could give 0 Stars I definitely would. Christopher, the manager, has absolutely no regard for customers. They pushed every thing they could at me (including a tin I don’t need), and acted as if I was the world’s biggest cheapskate not to want to pay nearly $ 70 for around 10 ounces of tea. I have never seen such poor management in any establishment I’ve ever visited. Save yourself frustration and shop for your tea anywhere else. Will never step foot in another Teavana again. They, obviously, couldn’t care less about the customer.
UPDATE– I went to the website to see if the teas I chose could possibly have cost as much as I was told. The answer is NO WAY. While I didn’t end up purchasing the teas, I can tell you they would have overcharged by nearly half. I just read another review posted on ¹¹⁄₁₉ and agree there is something fishy going on there, too. BEWARE!

I recently discovered how much I love loose leaf tea and I’m hooked! I drink two or three cups a day now and I love making it with their perfect tea maker which makes a cup at a time. Very simple and easy. I don’t want to stickle but going back to bags after using leaves seems pointless. It’s so much better tasting and better for you.
This place has it all if tea is your thing. So many choices and accessories. I don’t know what I would do if this location suddenly disappeared since I am becoming a tea addict. I love the monkey oolong tea and I also enjoy acai matetini mate tea.
The only problem is how pushy the staff is. In fact that is why I only gave it two stars AND why I am doing this review. If you don’t know what you want and come here with no knowledge they will GET YOU! I studied up before I walked in and knew EXACTLY what I wanted and THEY STILL tried pushing other stuff on me! Don’t be fooled when they show you how well some teas are when infused with others. That only means they will try and force you to buy another tin and a lot more tea. (FYI they make you buy a tin can as well to put the tea in.)
The other day I needed a refill so I came in with my tin can and told them I ONLY wanted that specific tea. The sales girl pulled out a black tea and told me how wonderful this is with the tea I wanted to get refilled. I told her politely «No thanks» but she still pulled out another tin can and began to fill it with the black tea I told her I didn’t want. Which made it awkward. So I told her again that I didn’t want it but she claimed she thought I did. Whatever! Selective hearing? Anyway, just be careful simply because of the staff. They seem to have a lot of expertise about tea but are EXTREMELY PUSHY to say the least. Also if you want only $ 20 worth be firm with them about it, because they will fill that tin can to the brim with tea which is quite costly. All in all I love Teavana and won’t let a few officious sales people ruin my tea loving experience.

Will never shop here again!
I love tea, especially a good quality Assam. I love Ceylon. A Keemum is OK, too. I don’t want green tea, or flavored tea.
My good friend gave me a gift card to Teavana and when I went in today to redeem it, I asked for their best Assam. The salesperson didn’t know what Assam was. I then asked for a Ceylon. She «informed» me that they don’t carry those brand names, and that the names of their teas are different. OH MY GOSH!
The manager came out and let me smell several of her recommendations and I decided on a Golden Monkey Black, a. I asked for $ 25 worth of it, because that was the value of the gift card. I was informed that I had to buy a $ 6 tin to take it home in. When I asked for a bag instead I was informed that the tea would go «stale» in 4 days in that bag, and she then told me that the tea tins were 35% off today, and the tin would only be $ 4.50. I insisted on a bag and the manager promptly found a perfect bag for me and measured my tea.
Teavana management: please educate your sales staff! If you specialize in tea, please know your stock!

The tea here is overpriced, but flavorful. I’ve always grabbed some samples each time a stroll by this place, but lately I’ve stopped since they now have someone constantly waiting outside, trying to reel you in.
Today I was brave enough to go in and buy a container of the maharaja chai oolong. Shopping for tea really shouldn’t be so stressful, but the salespeople make it almost unbearable. The young girl who ‘helped’ us was incredibly pushy, while I was deciding on which one I wanted. They have so many options, so I just wanted to take my time in choosing. She insisted that I buy the fancy container that is supposed to make it last long.
Every time I go in there, they’re super pushy and annoying. Maybe they make commission off the tea they sell or get rewards for it. I really wish they could just tone it down a bit because obviously people don’t seem to like their aggressive selling tactics. I’ll probably just shop online now because it’s too stressful going to the store.

I like Teavana’s tea and yeah, it’s expensive. I’m not a huge tea drinker but I like to have some good stuff on hand for when I’m craving it.
I was at the mall doing some shopping and just wanted a little sample from the sample area right next to the door. A salesgirl pounced on me and refused to let me get my own tea. Then proceeded to try to sell me everything from a tea infuser, tea mug, tea that has the same caffeine as coffee, tea that tastes great iced, etc etc.
I’ve worked in sales and customer service for many years and this was ridiculous and over the top. I hope that now that they’ve been bought out by Starbucks that maybe they’ll change their sales techniques slightly because right now I don’t even want to go within 20 feet of their store.

Sigh. It’s a real shame that I can’t rate this place higher than two stars. I know a lot of people gripe and moan about «pushy» sales people — they’ve never been pushy to me. Sure, they try to up-​sell, that’s the way stores are, and I know the corporate environment for this particular chain is really heavy on the up-selling…but I’m a social shopper, and I like sharing product experiences. The girls were delightfully friendly, and I they were perfectly happy to let me smell and comment on all the teas that I felt like checking out — and when I said no to anything that was the end of it.
How is that anything beyond normal customer service? Was I just lucky and got the «good» sales associates? Go figure.
But honestly, I’m rating Teavana for what everyone *actually* cares about: their teas. I’ve tried their stuff from an online order before, and I was not impressed. I chalked it up to «ordering online and not being able to smell them first”-itis, so I figured I’d drop in and actually give them a smell before buying this time around.
I’ve disliked Teavana teas because of their over-​use of «spice.» I like a spicy tea on occasion, but there’s a time and a place for it. (Time being «winter,» and place being «in black tea.» But that’s my taste. My own opinion. Your mileage may vary, etc.) But with the rare exception, *every* single Teavana tea I’ve tasted tastes/​reeks heavily of cinnamon and citric acid. It’s like comparing Sweet Leaf to Lipton bottle tea. Blech!
Given, until I find a replacement I might still pick up their Earl Grey Crème and their Raspberry Riot Yerba Mate… but it sincerely seems like the majority of their teas are hiding their poor quality behind a heavy curtain of flavorings, spices, and citrus.
Time to broaden your horizons and try some true quality tea. Check out Zhi or The Steeping Room, if loose tea is your drug of choice (like it is mine). I’ll probably end up composting most of this Teavana stuff.

I’m increasing the review rating because they accepted my *entire* tea return no questions asked. This makes me very, very happy and very relieved.
The tea at the store is good. The return policy is humane. The high pressure salesmanship is bad.
I had only wanted to purchase a few ounces of tea and was talked into buying 4 pounds of tea and 4 tea tins for just under $ 300. This was insane, and I couldn’t enjoy the tea under the circumstances. I was relieved to be able to return the tea. Thank you, Teavana.
I don’t know if I’ll ever set foot in the store again, knowing how vulnerable I was the first time. If they change their sales model, maybe I’ll reconsider.

I have always wondered who the heck goes into a tea specialty store just to buy tea and tea pots? Well this was the mentality about six months ago until an event turned my life into a non soda drinking, green tea and water consuming individual.
I walked into here hoping that the pots might be in the $ 10 range but boy was I wrong. The average price that I was informed was approximately $ 30. Walmart here I come.
I skimmed the other reviews and they were pretty much on the spot. The tea smelled good as the salesman opened up a tin of tea and waved the scents at me with the lid like he was fanning a fire. I almost bit at the sales pitch except the $ 18 for 2 ounces of tea reminded me that I am trying to buy fine wine on a beer budget.

I was never so happy to see the Teavana sign in BC Mall!
Immediately upon arrival, we were sampling the 4 different kinds of teas they had out on Friday night, and we were easily drawn into the sales pitch (but are familiar with these stores so that is to be expected).
We ended up buying 2 ounces of the blueberry tea along with 2 ounces of the amazingly strong and fantastic lemon lime tea.
This is a great store. You cannot strike out here, in my humble opinion.
The four ounces total cost around $ 15. I just wanted to tell you that because I was interested at the total (because 4 ounces is not a lot of tea). I had forgotten that the teas were quite that high in cost, but it is a treat, and obviously something you cannot do daily unless you really want to, with all due respect.
I will say the girl helping us was adorable. She really pushed buying the tea tins on us… they range from $ 6-​$ 8 and are air tight, and I get it, it is supposed to keep the tea fresher longer but we only had 4 ounces worth and will have that gone by the weekend, to be real honest, so we had to respectfully decline her nice offer (just wouldn’t have been purposive) but that is a great idea for the real tea higher volume buyers. They will suggest that you to bring the tins back and they will refill them by keeping track of what you like, but again, that’s on your dime (or quarter, or big boy president bill (s).
I recommend trying out the wonderful samples, sniffing the large flavorful tea tins, having someone there tell you about the monkey picked teas, and getting someone who loves tea a very nice Christmas present from there! It was like a nice tea party that night! I also want to discuss their amazing peach tea that helps with certain pains… you can watch the peach «bloom» in hot water — -it actually really helped me when I was feeling bad. There are certain teas there that can really assist in the relief of several ranging ailments. It is impressive!
They also sell many relative tea brewing accessories like tea pots, etc. So there is a lot to examine in that small but tea-​riffic store!