Are you a fan of the Starbucks Chai Latte? Passion Tea? A black tea drinker? Refresh by Tazo? Rumor has it that Starbucks will be changing the tea line up soon! This made me think that there is no better time than now to take a peek into the world of Tazo Tea at their headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Tazo is the company that supplies Starbucks with all of their tea offerings.
About one year ago, when the Vanilla Rooibos tea latte and tea infusion drinks were launched, Starbucks produced a short video covering the changes in the tea menu, and included in that video was a few minutes tour of the Tazo tea facility. Your tour guide is Apurva, a Tazo employee, who tells you a little about the lore of the Tazo Tea stone, and the place where tea blends are created and made before being shipped to many different Starbucks, and grocery stores too.
What’s your favorite tea drink at Starbucks?
Enjoy your very short peak into the home of Tazo Tea!
29 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Socialize
I’m drinking Awake right now. 😀
I’m more of a coffee drinker. Recently I decided to give tea another try. So far, black tea I like the most.
Excellent blog post!!
I never drink coffee, but really enjoy teas. I’ve tried a few of the Tazo teas. Their green tea is nice, but I really enjoy their their calming tea at the end of a long day.
Chris
i’ve been attempting to branch out with tea a bit lately, though i still think the vanilla rooibos up at 15th is my favourite. of course, i am a little weird and enjoy soy in my tea.
i’m very interested to see how they change the tea lineup.
if i remember correctly, starbucks actually owns tazo, as of a few years ago.
I can not wait! i am a much bigger tea person then coffee, i love reds, whites, greens, herbals, blacks, mate, latte and whatever else can be done! currently i am a big republic of tea and teavana fan, but if tazo starts being readily available in full leaf where i can get it i may switch (i am “meh” about most of their bagged teas).
will the baristas be trained in proper tea timing?
I would love for Starbucks to carry jasmine and lapsang souchon. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Peet’s already carry jasmine tea. (Peet’s has three different varieties.) Peet’s also has lapsang souchon,which is a smokey black tea. Perfect for cold weather.
Does Tazo make these varieties?
My s.o. And I are up in Portland quite a bit. He’s a BIG tea drinker and I’m still learning the different flavors and types (and enjoying the experiene!). Thank you for blogging about the Portland Tzao Tea headquarters 🙂 This is definately going to be a destination next time we go up 🙂 I’m curious as to what he’ll think. 😀 PS my favs are black teas…I also enjoy rooibos!
I’m also interested in the upcoming Starbucks tea offerings.
Drinking Tazo’s Cinnamon Spice at the moment!
Oh my, how I’ve forgotten about the greatness of this video! My favorite parts are the graphics!
@AmazonV What is proper tea timing? Do you mean the time teas should steep?
And does anyone know if the upcoming teas will be in the silk filters that Starbucks’ current full leaf teas come in?
Also, one more question (I like to ask questions because then a dialogue forms) At Peets Coffee or Caribou Coffee, how do they prepare tea? Full leaf? Pre-bagged in paper filters? silk filters?
@camspi yes sorry i meant seep times & temperatures – it really makes a difference in the flavor of the tea (the tea lattes with teabags drive me nuts at Starbucks b/c they arrive under seeped and you have to watch for when they should be done to remove the bags from when the barista started)
I’ve thought about a hundred times about getting tea at Starbucks, but I always end up getting something coffee related like I always do. I drink tea here and there, but I step into Starbucks and my mind just can’t focus on anything other than coffee.
@AmazonV It’s interesting that you talk about temperatures. I had a fellow coworker who worked at Peet’s in San Francisco years before working for Starbucks, and she talked about temperatures, too. (She lasted less than a month, though because she moved back to San Francisco.) She told me that Peet’s brews their green tea at a slightly cooler temperature. How do they do this? We have two water temperatures at Starbucks: room temp and 200 (roughly) degrees. Does Peet’s have water spout designated for green teas?
I really hope Starbucks can capitalize on their ownership of Tazo going into 2010. The tea lattes were a decent start, but Starbucks’ tea options remain limited. Not only does Starbucks need more inventive tea-based drinks, but they also need it to be as easy as ordering a mocha. (For example, if I order a tea latte, I have to hang out in the store for a few more minutes while it steeps, then messily take out the tea bag.)
I’m a huge tea fan; perhaps Starbucks can start to get my tea money next year too.
useless fact of the day:
Rooibos is Afrikaans (South African language) for Red bush. and is pronounced “Roy-boss”
It was engineered and grown by a south african farmer who owns the rights on it. He must be raking in the cash now if its being sold at starbucks!!!
like i said, pretty useless facts!
(reply to Andy & Michael)@Andy I know you’re following me from South Africa – Do you know this S. African Rooibos farmer? I doubt he’s raking in cash! Probably more than 1 farmer grows this plant!
@Michael – I never considered the speed of service issue with the tea driknks before, but even at 15thAveCoffee and tea, I won’t order an iced tea because I know I have to wait forever it to be brewed and then poured over ice. Tea is somehow slower than coffee, or so it seems.
@melody
lol no i don’t personally, as you’re right there is indeed more than one plant! but he cross polinated (or whatever) and invented and patented it. if you know what i mean….
is it just me or am i looking stupid right now!? I’ll have to look into it and get back to you with the facts!
ok… check it on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos I was sort of right… maybe about 100 yrs behind on the facts though!
Andy it sounds to me like you have the inside scoop on the Rooibos plant for tea!! I’m dying to hear more. If it’s patented, your friend must be earning some kind of revenue off of it?? You’re definitely NOT looking stupid.
AmazonV –
The store I work in was a test market for the tea lattes about a year before they were launched nationally. Initially we did steep the tea bags and remove them before adding the milk and serving them. This proved to be overwhelmingly unpopular. Sad as it is, the average Starbucks customer is in far too much of a hurry to wait for trivialities such as tea steeping!
I attended the Tazo session at the Leadership Conference (front row) and Apurva and i had a moment connecting over tea and chicken skewers at a booth later on during the street fair. He’s just sooo adorable.
@Akarisame – That is really cool to hear. I watched the whole Tazo DVD, and it was clear that Apurva stood out as the star!
I am a die hard coffee fan; however, at times I do try the Tazo Tea. I like the Rooibos and the black teas. More than anything, I love Portland. March 2008 was the first time that I visited Portland and cannot wait to return. Now another reason. . .
Great blog, Melody. I love the name (nice homage to the classica Hoagy Carmichael song).
I think the change has taken place. Around Christmas my normal SB was still using the usual small retail bags of tea, this morning they’ve replaced the three row rack of teas behind the counter with three medium sized steel containers. When I ordered my usual venti Awake, it came in larger bags, more like what you’d get from the premium tea vendors.
I love this site. Do they actually give tours at the company? Where is the headquarters located in Portland? I’d like to visit. Tazo tea is the best tasting tea.
Melody thanks again for posting this blog. Actually, although I drink mostly iced tea I do like hot tea. You thought it takes longer to brew tea and to make it iced, but I really think it takes an average amount of time so asking for a fresh brewed cup of iced tea should not be an issue.
Anyone know where I can get a copy of the full dvd?
@Christopher – This little Tazo headquarters excerpt came from a barista training CD that I managed to get my hands on. You’re going to have a close to impossible time getting a copy. This little segment was actually my favorite. The first few minutes is Uncle Howard chatting with Apurva about the new tea drinks. Unfortunately, Howard looks extremely tired, like he hasn’t slept in 3 days, and I decided I just couldn’t use it. Then after this excerpt the DVD launches into very long dull segments teaching baristas how to make the tea beverages. It’s not even worth watching the whole thing. This is the best segment. Sorry.
Tazo Tea Headquarters is located about 5 mins south of the Rose Quarter in Portland OR. The picture above of the main entrance is a little misleading because it actually doesn’t face the street. What does face the street are the warehouse loading bays. I passed this place 5 times before I figured out what was going on. On a warm day, you can literally smell the tea from several blocks away. I know that they have pared their tour schedule down from what it used to be. Slots fill up quickly so you have to plan your visit pretty well in advance. They are pretty strict about what you wear during the tour, so I would recommend that you find out what exactly is acceptable, else you’ll find yourself waiting outside while the tour goes on. The tour takes you through pretty much the entire warehouse. They show you how tea arrives in bulk before it is blended and then take you through the cupping room where they test different blend combinations. The actual blending room was pretty cool. They also have a tea tasting room that looks like a set off a TV show. I really want to bring that room home and use it as my kitchen. All in all, I found it incredibly informational and I know I walked away knowing a lot more about the tea industry then when I arrived. It’s a tour that I highly recommend to anyone that may be visitng the Portland Area!
There have been so many countless evidence-based, research studies now that have verified that tea shrinks tumors. I mean, tea is truly an elixir — the ambrosia of modern life!
Is it safe to drink if the box says Best by 02 Feb 2016 KAREN 12:29 pl125 5033??