Customer : Tea & Other Drinks

Happy Birthday MSI!

sbx_bean — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:29:00 GMT

My Starbucks Idea celebrates its one year anniversary today. You have shared over 70,000 ideas. In the first year 94 ideas have been put into action and 25 of those have launched including – Instant Coffee, Venti Travel Cup, and Bring Back Tea Lattes. Your ideas have inspired us to think of relevant and creative ways to enhance our Rewards programs - including free Wi-Fi and a birthday beverage.

Since we launched 12 months ago the site has added some new features like the ability to vote down an idea and consolidate repeat ideas - ideas that you submitted early on.

Currently there are 56 ideas under review and 10 are coming soon. Look for launch announcements later this spring. Some exciting things are on the way in the Starbucks Card, Food, and Other Experience Ideas categories.

MSI is about a community collaborating and telling us which ideas are important to you. Thanks for keeping the community vibrant and ideas brewing. Keep the ideas coming. What idea should we launch next? Tell us. It could happen.

Full Leaf Tea Now @ StarbucksStore.com

Steven Epstein — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Some of you have shared ideas regarding the retail sale of full leaf tea. I thought you would like to know that the Starbucks Store online now offers some terrific full leaf loose teas. I am very excited about this offering! Each tea is packed in a 175G or 250G bag (roughly 1/3 lb. or ½ lb.). This is a large quantity - about 50 or so cups worth if brewed strong.

The teas include existing popular favorites available in Tazo® tea bags such as Awake™, China Green Tips, Earl Grey, Calm™, Darjeeling, and Refresh™.

Other teas available include Mambo™ (tropical), Silver Needle, Orange Blossom Green, Jasmine Pearl (my favorite), Gen Mai Cha (sometimes offered in sushi restaurants), English Breakfast, Earl Grey Lavender, Dragonwell Lung Ching, Calm-Chamomile Rose, Vanilla Rooibos (available as a tea latte in winter 2009), and Ti Kwan Yin (an incredible Oolong).

Don’t delay your purchase of these wonderful teas as quantities are limited.

Offer WHOLE leaf tea
posted by WhataTeas

Loose leaf Teas
posted by tdrnkrjd

Poll Results: What's your favorite loose leaf tea?

sbx_bean — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:01:00 GMT

Some of the ideas on MSI have told us that you would like to see loose leaf tea offered at Starbucks.

So we asked through the latest MSI poll, "What's your favorite loose leaf tea?" Here are the results:

33% - green
9% - oolong
32% - black
19% - herbal
7% - other

Tell us what other teas you enjoy.

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES AT TAZO

Keith Hutjens — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:57:00 GMT

Many ideas on MSI are about recycling and Starbucks environmental footprint. Recycling bins in all our stores is a top idea that we are working towards, but it is going to take some time. In the meantime, we would like to highlight the progress we’ve made towards our overall environmental stewardship initiatives. Tazo, Starbucks tea blending and packaging plant in Portland, Oregon, is doing good things for the environment.

First of all, Tazo purchases renewable energy RECS from wind power, equivalent to 100% of the electricity used at the Portland plant. There is also a robust recycling program in place – Tazo participates in the Portland Recycle at Work program, and has won a Recycle Works award for their efforts. Tazo has a Corporate Social Responsibility committee to manage this program with great participation from partners (employees) at the plant. Recycling is a high priority for partners along with composting lunchroom food waste and any spilled tea and spice from the plant. Cardboard and plastic from the plant are collected and recycled as well. Tazo also worked with their packaging supplier to develop a tea carton made with over 50% post-consumer fiber and eliminated the cellophane over-wrap, further reducing their packaging footprint.

Dealing with waste inside the Tazo plant is not enough for the partners; they also shut the plant down for two hours, twice a year, to pick up trash and clean up the neighborhood. Tazo actively participates in local food and blood drives to help give back to the Portland community. Nearly 30% of partners participate in the transportation alternatives program, commuting to work via bike, bus, carpool or walking rather than driving.

We look forward to sharing another progress report in the near future.

To read more about Starbucks environmental stewardship efforts visit www.starbucks.com/sharedplanet.

Join us for Tea @ Two

sbx_bean — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:17:00 GMT

Tuesday, January 13 @ 2:00 is tea time at Starbucks. All company-operated stores will be sampling the new Tazo® Tea Lattes and Tea Infusions along with some tasty food.

Tazo® Tea Lattes
• Black Tea Latte. It’s a blend of black teas from India and Sri Lanka combined with freshly steamed milk and sweetened to perfection.
• London Fog Tea Latte, a blend of Earl Grey (the traditional bergamot-scented black tea) accented with a hint of French lavender, sweetened with vanilla and combined with steamed milk.
• Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte, a tantalizing elixir of South African caffeine-free rooibos (sometimes called “red tea”), Tahitian vanilla, apple and peach pieces and a mix of naturally sweet herbs and spices.

All of these new Tea Lattes are made with some of the finest full leaf teas and herbs to be found on this planet and each can be steeped and sweetened to taste.

Tazo® Tea Infusions
Infusions are a combination of our chai tea base and either apple juice or sweet and luscious aronia berry (which tastes like cranberry) and black current juice blend.

• Apple Chai Tea Infusion
• Berry Chai Tea Infusion

Tea samples are limited to one product sample per customer while supplies last.

Sample Size
Posted by gc1991

Starbucks Coffee, TEA, and Spices…

Suzanne B — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:36:00 GMT

Hi, my name is Suzanne and I am the Brand Manager for Tazo Tea here at Starbucks. I’ve been lucky enough to have been a part of Tazo now for about seven great years.

Tazo was started by a guy named Steve who wanted to “pull the doily out from under the tea cup” and introduce a whole new generation of tea drinkers to the captivating world of tea. His goal was to breathe new life into this ancient beverage, which (back in 1994, anyway) he felt held little interest to most Americans. He believed that if you searched the world for the highest quality teas, herbs and spices, brought them together in intriguing ways people had never tasted before, and had a little fun while doing it, then good things would happen.

Well, good things did. Tazo grew, and prospered, and in 1999 was bought by another company – Starbucks - who cared as much about coffee as Tazo cared about tea. It’s a happy union.

On Jan. 3, more good things are going to happen because we are introducing a veritable plethora of new handcrafted Tazo tea experiences at Starbucks!

• If you’re looking for a breakfast tea of depth and character, enjoy our new Tazo® Black Tea Latte. It’s a blend of black teas from India and Sri Lanka combined with freshly steamed milk and sweetened to perfection.
• Prefer a new twist on a classic tea blend? Lose yourself in the Tazo® London Fog Tea Latte, a blend of Earl Grey (the traditional bergamot-scented black tea) accented with a hint of French lavender, sweetened with vanilla and combined with steamed milk.
• Looking to avoid caffeine? Relax with a cup of Tazo® Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte, a tantalizing elixir of South African rooibos (sometimes called “red tea”), Tahitian vanilla, apple and peach pieces and a mix of naturally sweet herbs and spices. Some say it tastes like warm apple pie and ice cream. (But at just 150 calories and 5 grams of fat for a Tall, it’s a considerably less guilty pleasure.)

All of these new Tea Lattes are made with the finest full leaf teas and herbs to be found on this planet and each can be steeped and sweetened to taste.

• If you’re a Chai fan or if you just tend to like exotic, sweet spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves, then try our new Tazo® Tea Infusions. Infusions are a combination of our chai tea base and either apple juice or sweet and luscious aronia berry (which tastes like cranberry) and black current juice blend. (If you like apple cider or mulled wine, you are going to love these.)

If you’re trying to reel in your caloric intake and your budget after the holidays, you’ll be happy to know that, with the exception of Apple Chai Infusion (at 240 calories), all of the teas above are under 200 calories for a Tall. And all are below three bucks in most parts of the country.

But wait, there’s more! Most these beverages are loaded with more antioxidants than an 8-ounce glass of orange juice, which are essential to protecting the body’s immune system.
So not only do these beverages taste great, but they also do good things for you.

Starting this January, we’re putting the Tea (and Spices!) back into Starbucks Coffee Tea and Spices*. We hope you’ll join us for a cup.

Be Well,

Suzanne

*Starbucks Coffee’s original name.

Red Tea Drinks
posted by SparkyD

Poll Results: What is your Favorite Sugar-free Syrup?

sbx_bean — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:38:00 GMT

Vanilla is the most popular sugar-free flavor indicated by your votes on MSI.

42% Vanilla
30% Caramel
28% Hazelnut

We've seen lots of ideas on the site about offering more sugar-free syrups. What flavor would you most like added to the menu?