Starbucks Set To Open Its First Teavana Bar In NYC (But Don’t Ask For Coffee)

No coffee here. Not a drop. Just tea, as far as the eye can see.

No coffee here. Not a drop. Just tea, as far as the eye can see.

Of course you can buy a cup of tea at a Starbucks, it’s a cafe after all. But don’t even think about ordering up a cappucino or other coffee item at Starbucks’ new Teavana Bar in NYC, set to open tomorrow. Nope — it’s floor-to-ceiling tea madness all day, every day. Coffee beans, begone!

Sipsters (a new word I just made up to describe cool people sipping tea) will be able to choose from “a carefully curated assortment of handcrafted tea beverages, premium loose leaf teas, tea-inspired food offerings and beautifully made tea merchandise,” Starbucks said in a press release today. Which translates to “Ooh, you fancy!” because those tins of tea are often awful expensive.

Starbucks’ Upper East Side Teavana bar comes a year after it bought the tea company, and according to Starbucks, everyone likes tea now, as “America’s interest in tea has grown by 16 percent over the past five years,” the press release claims.

“Tea has been a part of Starbucks heritage since 1971, when we were founded as Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices, and this new store concept elevates the tea experience in the same way we’ve done for coffee,” said CEO Howard Schultz. “As the second most-consumed global beverage behind water, tea presents a $90 billion global market opportunity, and we are excited to celebrate the first retail example of how our two companies are coming together.”

The new tea bars will also offer food that’s designed to go along with tea sipping — pastries, breakfast items, salads and shortbreads among them.

Even Schultz isn’t totally committed to the tea-volution though — he told USA Today he drinks Moroccan Mint Teavana tea at night, “but nothing will replace my (Starbucks) French press Aged Sumatra in the morning.”

Sipsters! It’s a thing. Pass it on so you can be ready when/if Teavana bars invade every corner of your town.

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