Teavana

No. It is mid-quality at best and ridiculously overpriced in my opinion. Way better quality can be had online much cheaper and with fast shipping to the point that convenience is a non issue. I received more than a few gifts of tea over the holidays from family members from there and none have stood up to much of anything. You're right about the chain part and as such it would be like expecting a fresh high-quality burger from McDonalds, except at premium pricing.

There are a lot of posts about online and brick and mortar shops that are reputable and respected in the archives here. What type of tea were you planning to buy there? With some info we can point you to the best options.

- Dominic

I would stay away from mall stores in general, and esp. from Teavana.

This thread, while not really surprising, has some interesting stuff in it:

w

Will Yardley <&-@no.spam.veggiechinese.net> wrote in news:slrn4iqliqvc00100.n8v.&-@mitch.veggiechinese.net:

I just read the article, and all I can say is "wow"! It's too bad the store is being run this way, I will definitely stay away. Perhaps things will go so badly that they will sell it to someone who will run it decently. Thanks, Will, for posting this info, it was very useful.

Larry

Teavana has a horrible reputation among tea lovers but I really like some of their flavoured black and herbal blends. Their Cream Earl Grey is the best I`ve ever had and I`ve tried several (Upton and several local tea shops here in Toronto). I also love their Tarocco Ruby Orange and Tranquil Dream Herbal teas (Upton`s Chamillo is close but not as good).

I would greatly appreciate other recommendations for online tea shops which ship to Canada.

THanks kindly!

[missmouse] [corax] why not deal with some that are *in* canada? two to get the discussion rolling:

[and they have a brick-n-mortar shop in toronto -- richmond hill actually]

[operating out of montreal]

both have very good reputations. both source their teas directly from the growers.