Replacement for Tazo Green Tea Sold by Starbucks
December 15, 2014 2:14 PM Subscribe
My husband loves the Tazo China Green Tips green tea sold by Starbucks, but it has been discontinued. He is distraught! The version of Tazo China Green Tips sold in retail locations is not a suitable replacement. He needs to find a new favorite tea!
The version of Tazo China Green Tips sold at Starbucks was full leaf tea in silken sachets. We could buy tins of this tea at Starbucks retail locations until recently, when Starbucks stopped selling Tazo. We cannot find it anywhere else. There is a version of Tazo China Green Tips that is sold at other stores, but it is a pale imitation of the tea sold by Starbucks. For one thing, it comes in paper filterbags. He is not a fan of this version. He can tell the difference and he cares about it a great deal.
I am seeking the help of tea enthusiasts who have tried the Tazo China Green Tips at Starbucks and can recommend something as close as possible to that particular tea that I can purchase online (or possibly in my local area).
I think he has decided that he may need to go with loose-leaf tea going forward, so he is open to that. He drinks about 30-40 oz of this tea a day.
The catch is that we live in a small college town with no stores where we can purchase loose leaf tea, bulk tea, or specialty tea. We have health food stores where we can buy boxed tea of various types, and we can buy things on the internet. We cannot try most of this tea before we purchase, and I would prefer to limit the amount of time he has to spend searching and trying teas before he finds a reasonable replacement.
Hope me?
The version of Tazo China Green Tips sold at Starbucks was full leaf tea in silken sachets. We could buy tins of this tea at Starbucks retail locations until recently, when Starbucks stopped selling Tazo. We cannot find it anywhere else. There is a version of Tazo China Green Tips that is sold at other stores, but it is a pale imitation of the tea sold by Starbucks. For one thing, it comes in paper filterbags. He is not a fan of this version. He can tell the difference and he cares about it a great deal.
I am seeking the help of tea enthusiasts who have tried the Tazo China Green Tips at Starbucks and can recommend something as close as possible to that particular tea that I can purchase online (or possibly in my local area).
I think he has decided that he may need to go with loose-leaf tea going forward, so he is open to that. He drinks about 30-40 oz of this tea a day.
The catch is that we live in a small college town with no stores where we can purchase loose leaf tea, bulk tea, or specialty tea. We have health food stores where we can buy boxed tea of various types, and we can buy things on the internet. We cannot try most of this tea before we purchase, and I would prefer to limit the amount of time he has to spend searching and trying teas before he finds a reasonable replacement.
Hope me?
This is a long shot, but--Starbucks still *serves* China Green Tips in those sachets, though the stores don't get them in retail packaging. Perhaps if you sweet-talked a manager they could sell you some? (Or at least an extra teabag or two when you buy a cup.) But as I said, that's a long shot.
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:58 PM on December 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:58 PM on December 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Email customerservice@harneyteas.com. Describe your tea issue. They'll fix you right up.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 3:24 PM on December 15, 2014
posted by lakersfan1222 at 3:24 PM on December 15, 2014
Starbucks is transitioning from Tazo to Teavana teas in store (they own both brands). Last year they changed their iced teas to Teavana brand and lo and behold, they taste exactly the same. I would bet that when the transition is complete there will be a Teavana alternative to China Green Tips available.
posted by secrethandshake at 3:27 PM on December 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by secrethandshake at 3:27 PM on December 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Try the TeaGuys. Not sure if they have an exact replica, but you can purchase a small of most of their flavors to test-drive before making a bigger purchase. We had a blast ordering 15-20 samples and then picking our favorites over the course of a week or so.
posted by spinturtle at 5:09 PM on December 15, 2014
posted by spinturtle at 5:09 PM on December 15, 2014
I know you are looking for a replacement for something I haven't tried, but I just wanted to let you know that Upton Tea sells (loose-leaf) samples of nearly everything they have. I've been a customer for nearly twenty years. Here are their China Green teas. Some possible choices: Yunnan Silver Tip Mao Feng, Phoenix Bud, Fujian Green Needle.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:35 PM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by oneirodynia at 5:35 PM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
China Green Tips is my go-to order if I am going to starbucks and want something hot.
2nding Mighty Leaf. Its a solid choice. If nothing else, it is hard to go wrong with them. The only downside imo is that they are pricy.
Don't get:
Having tried the Teavana green teas, nothing is a straight transition from China Green tips. I haven't tried the Teavana dragonwell, as I perfer gunpowder rolled tea, but I highly recommend NOT getting their Emperor's Clouds and Mist Green Tea. Seriously disappointing.
I am also not a fan of Intelligensia teas. They do coffee well, but tea is a completely different story.
Do get:
I am a huge fan of loose tea. In my mind, China Tips is most similar to Chinese dragonwell tea, which comes from the Hangzhou region of China. If you are looking for replacements, look for words like gunpowder (Its the way its rolled into little balls), hangzhou, dragon well, longjin.
That being said, I am currently working my way through a couple of ounces of Formosa Gunpowder from Capital Teas. Its a Taiwanese tea, with a fairly neutral profile. Its a good every day tea.
Memteas are also supposed to be good. A friend likes them.
posted by troytroy at 6:58 PM on December 15, 2014
2nding Mighty Leaf. Its a solid choice. If nothing else, it is hard to go wrong with them. The only downside imo is that they are pricy.
Don't get:
Having tried the Teavana green teas, nothing is a straight transition from China Green tips. I haven't tried the Teavana dragonwell, as I perfer gunpowder rolled tea, but I highly recommend NOT getting their Emperor's Clouds and Mist Green Tea. Seriously disappointing.
I am also not a fan of Intelligensia teas. They do coffee well, but tea is a completely different story.
Do get:
I am a huge fan of loose tea. In my mind, China Tips is most similar to Chinese dragonwell tea, which comes from the Hangzhou region of China. If you are looking for replacements, look for words like gunpowder (Its the way its rolled into little balls), hangzhou, dragon well, longjin.
That being said, I am currently working my way through a couple of ounces of Formosa Gunpowder from Capital Teas. Its a Taiwanese tea, with a fairly neutral profile. Its a good every day tea.
Memteas are also supposed to be good. A friend likes them.
posted by troytroy at 6:58 PM on December 15, 2014
Here are two that I think are excellent:
Loose leaf Japanese Sencha Green Tea (search in the page) from Southern Season - I get this locally (I live near the store) and it can be intense, but really good. Definitely make it at 160-180 Fahrenheit (cooler than boiling, and cooler than "just off boiling" - or you can fill a cup 3/4 with boiling water, 1/4 cold water, then add the tea), but it's worth it.
Two Leaves and a Bud tea company has wonderful organic teas in silk sachets - just look at the pictures. Their tea is always good, and the sachets are kind of special.
If he's just been getting this at a small-town Starbucks, maybe he hasn't tried Genmai green tea? It's worth a try if you're ordering some. It's not as strong as some of the more extreme teas, but a new good flavor, I think.
posted by amtho at 7:06 PM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Loose leaf Japanese Sencha Green Tea (search in the page) from Southern Season - I get this locally (I live near the store) and it can be intense, but really good. Definitely make it at 160-180 Fahrenheit (cooler than boiling, and cooler than "just off boiling" - or you can fill a cup 3/4 with boiling water, 1/4 cold water, then add the tea), but it's worth it.
Two Leaves and a Bud tea company has wonderful organic teas in silk sachets - just look at the pictures. Their tea is always good, and the sachets are kind of special.
If he's just been getting this at a small-town Starbucks, maybe he hasn't tried Genmai green tea? It's worth a try if you're ordering some. It's not as strong as some of the more extreme teas, but a new good flavor, I think.
posted by amtho at 7:06 PM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
I haven't tried the Starbucks green tea, but Costco sells green tea bags that I really like. The bags are not paper (maybe plastic mesh?).
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 8:39 PM on December 15, 2014
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 8:39 PM on December 15, 2014
Response by poster: He does have a little stockpile of the Starbucks sachets (bought from the store's discontinued stock) and our friend the Starbucks manager may have some stock for him as well. We are not in crisis mode yet!
But this will not last him very long, and there are a lot of good avenues to explore here. I will report back when he's tried some teas and found something that will work for him!
posted by aabbbiee at 10:59 AM on December 16, 2014
But this will not last him very long, and there are a lot of good avenues to explore here. I will report back when he's tried some teas and found something that will work for him!
posted by aabbbiee at 10:59 AM on December 16, 2014
Mighty Leaf and Two Leaves and a Bud are both decent. He may also want to look into somewhere that will sell loose leaf, like Rishi, or a smaller shop like Zhi Tea or Verdant Tea. I think you can get the best tea from smaller shops, but there's plenty of bulk stuff that's good.
My recommendations for teas that are somewhat similar to the Starbucks China green tips:
Long jing, also called dragonwell
Huang shan mao feng
Bi luo chun
Lu an gua pian
Tian mu long zhu
In about that order.
These are kind of the medium-area Chinese greens that I'm familiar with. If he wants more floral, pu tuo fo cha is great, and dian lu eshan if he can get it. If he wants smokier, gunpowder green, si mao long zhu, or gen mai cha.
posted by bile and syntax at 4:53 PM on December 16, 2014
My recommendations for teas that are somewhat similar to the Starbucks China green tips:
Long jing, also called dragonwell
Huang shan mao feng
Bi luo chun
Lu an gua pian
Tian mu long zhu
In about that order.
These are kind of the medium-area Chinese greens that I'm familiar with. If he wants more floral, pu tuo fo cha is great, and dian lu eshan if he can get it. If he wants smokier, gunpowder green, si mao long zhu, or gen mai cha.
posted by bile and syntax at 4:53 PM on December 16, 2014
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posted by GuyZero at 2:21 PM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]