Our Pick: Tazo
Check price →Tazo vs Teavana: Which Starbucks Tea Is Better? (2026)
Two brands with a Starbucks past, one on every grocery shelf and one in every Starbucks cup. We brewed the English breakfasts, the Earl Greys, and the herbals to decide which is worth buying for home.
By Justin Park · ~6 min read · Updated 2026-08-23
★ Our Top Pick
Best everyday black tea of the two brands
Brisk, malty, organic, and a quarter a bag: Tazo's best tea.
Not sure yet? Compare all 4 picks below ↓
Short version: buy Tazo for everyday tea at home: it is cheaper by a wide margin, organic across most of the range, easy to find, and the Awake English Breakfast and Passion herbal are genuinely good. Buy Teavana if you want the exact cup you drink at Starbucks, the Earl Grey in particular, or if you want the pyramid-sachet format with bigger leaf; you will pay roughly double per cup and some of the popular sachets are only sold by third parties at inflated prices.
The history explains the overlap. Starbucks bought Tazo in 1999 and Teavana in 2012, then sold Tazo to Unilever in 2017 to focus on Teavana; Tazo is now part of Lipton Teas and Infusions and sold in every supermarket, while Teavana lives on as the tea brand inside Starbucks cafes and a smaller grocery line. We brewed the closest matched pairs from each: English breakfast, Earl Grey, and a fruit herbal.
| Round | Tazo | Teavana | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| English breakfast | Awake: brisk, malty, organic, 25 cents a bag | English Breakfast: smooth, a little softer, sachet | Tazo |
| Earl Grey | Fine but mild, fades in milk | Bolder bergamot, better base, the Starbucks cup | Teavana |
| Herbals and price | Passion is a standout; cheapest by far | Peach Tranquility is lovely; marketplace prices sting | Tazo |
Tazo vs Teavana, round by round.
The short version
- <strong>Value:</strong> Tazo, without a contest. Most boxes land at 25 to 45 cents a bag; Teavana sachets run 55 cents to well over a dollar.
- <strong>Earl Grey:</strong> Teavana's is the better tea and the one you are used to from Starbucks.
- <strong>English breakfast:</strong> Tazo Awake is brisker, organic, and cheaper; Teavana's is smoother but not better.
- <strong>Format:</strong> Teavana uses pyramid sachets with bigger leaf; Tazo uses flat paper bags.
- <strong>Availability:</strong> Tazo is everywhere; several Teavana sachets on Amazon are third-party listings at inflated prices, so check the price per sachet.
| Tea | Best for | Character | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tazo Organic Awake English Breakfast, 16 ct | Everyday morning cup | Brisk, malty, organic | 16 paper bags |
| Teavana Earl Grey, 24 ct | The Starbucks Earl Grey at home | Bold bergamot, good base | 24 sachets |
| Teavana English Breakfast, 24 ct | A smoother breakfast sachet | Smooth, medium body | 24 sachets |
| Tazo Passion Herbal, 20 ct | Iced herbal, caffeine-free | Hibiscus, orange, tart | 20 paper bags |
The matched pairs we brewed.
01 · Best everyday black tea of the two brands
Winner: EverydayTazo Organic Awake English Breakfast, 16 Count
Brisk, malty, organic, and a quarter a bag: Tazo's best tea.
Origin & grade: USDA Organic; Tazo, Portland-founded, now Lipton Teas and Infusions.
Tazo Awake is the tea that made Tazo's name and the organic version is the one to buy. Four minutes gives a dark, malty cup with a brisk edge that takes milk well; it is not as refined as Yorkshire Gold but it is a long way ahead of most supermarket breakfast bags. Teavana's English Breakfast sachet is smoother and rounder but also softer, and at roughly double the price it does not justify the gap.
- Type
- Black tea blend
- Caffeine
- Around 40-60 mg per cup
- Bag
- Paper, unwrapped
- Organic
- USDA Organic
- Best
- Morning, with milk
What we like
- Brisk and malty
- Organic
- Around 25 cents a bag
- Sold everywhere
Worth noting
- Small box
- Plain paper bags
Who should buy it: Anyone who wants a strong, organic morning tea at a supermarket price.
What we don't like: Flat paper bags; 16 to a box.
Bottom line: Awake is a proper breakfast tea: malty, brisk, and strong enough for milk. It beats Teavana's English Breakfast on character and costs about half as much per cup, which is the whole Tazo argument in one box.
02 · Best Earl Grey of the two, and the Starbucks cup
Winner: Earl Grey
Teavana Earl Grey Tea, Box of 24
The Starbucks Earl Grey: bold bergamot over a black tea with real body.
Origin & grade: Teavana, the Starbucks tea brand; black tea with bergamot in pyramid sachets.
Teavana Earl Grey in its 24-count box is reasonably priced at around 55 cents a sachet, which is not true of every Teavana listing on Amazon. The sachet holds bigger leaf than a Tazo paper bag and it shows in the cup: more body, cleaner bergamot, a longer finish. If you make London Fogs at home, this is the one. Our London Fog recipe uses it.
- Type
- Black tea with bergamot
- Caffeine
- Around 40-50 mg per cup
- Bag
- Pyramid sachet
- Best
- Plain, milk, London Fog
What we like
- Bold, clean bergamot
- Takes milk
- Bigger leaf in a sachet
Worth noting
- Pricier than Tazo
- Inflated third-party listings exist
Who should buy it: Earl Grey drinkers, London Fog makers, and anyone who wants the Starbucks cup without the Starbucks price.
What we don't like: Twice Tazo's price per cup; watch for third-party listings at far more.
Bottom line: Teavana's Earl Grey is the best single tea in this comparison. The bergamot is bright and confident and the base tea has enough weight to take milk, which is exactly where Tazo's Earl Grey falls down. It is also the tea you get in a Starbucks London Fog.
03 · Best smooth breakfast sachet
Also Great
Teavana English Breakfast, 24 Count
Smoother and softer than Tazo Awake; good, not better, at twice the price.
Origin & grade: Teavana; black tea blend in pyramid sachets.
Teavana English Breakfast is smooth and medium-bodied with less of the malty punch that makes Awake a morning tea. It is the better cup without milk; with milk Tazo wins. At about 58 cents a sachet it is fine value for a sachet, expensive next to Tazo.
- Type
- Black tea blend
- Caffeine
- Around 40-50 mg per cup
- Bag
- Pyramid sachet
- Best
- Plain
What we like
- Smooth and rounded
- Sachet format
Worth noting
- Soft with milk
- Pricey per cup
Who should buy it: Anyone who drinks breakfast tea without milk and prefers a softer style.
What we don't like: Softer than a breakfast tea should be; double Tazo's price.
Bottom line: A pleasant, rounded breakfast tea that loses to Tazo Awake on briskness and value. Buy it if you prefer a gentler cup and like the sachet format.
04 · Best herbal and best iced tea of the two brands
Winner: Herbal
Tazo Passion Herbal Tea, 20 Count
Hibiscus, orange peel, and passion fruit: the tart, caffeine-free iced tea Starbucks made famous.
Origin & grade: Tazo; caffeine-free herbal infusion of hibiscus, orange peel, rose hips, and passion fruit flavour.
Tazo Passion is the Starbucks iced passion tango tea in a box. Brew it double strength, pour over ice, add a little lemonade if you like, and you have the cafe drink for pennies. Hot it is pleasantly tart. It is caffeine-free, which makes it the evening choice too.
- Type
- Herbal infusion
- Caffeine
- None
- Bag
- Paper, unwrapped
- Best
- Iced, evening
What we like
- Vivid, tart, great iced
- Caffeine-free
- Cheap
Worth noting
- Tart hot
- Amazon listing is a multipack
Who should buy it: Iced-tea drinkers and anyone who wants a caffeine-free fruit tea that tastes of something.
What we don't like: Very tart hot without sweetener; the Amazon listing is a variety pack.
Bottom line: Passion is Tazo's signature herbal and it iced better than any Teavana herbal we tried: bright, tart, and vivid red. Teavana's Peach Tranquility is gentler and lovely hot, but its Amazon pricing is hard to justify.
The Starbucks connection, untangled
Tazo was founded in Portland in 1994 and bought by Starbucks in 1999; it was the tea in every Starbucks for over a decade. Starbucks then bought Teavana, an Atlanta mall-store chain, in 2012, and in 2017 sold Tazo to Unilever so it could make Teavana its one tea brand. Teavana's stores closed in 2018, but the brand stayed in Starbucks cafes and in a grocery sachet line. So today Tazo is a mass-market supermarket brand (now under Lipton Teas and Infusions) and Teavana is the cafe tea you can also buy boxed.
Leaf, bags, and what you taste
Teavana uses pyramid sachets with larger leaf pieces; Tazo uses flat paper bags with finer cut tea. That difference explains most of the cup: Teavana's black teas are rounder with a longer finish, Tazo's are brisker and quicker. For Earl Grey, where the base matters, Teavana's format wins. For a breakfast tea you drink with milk, Tazo's briskness is an advantage and the leaf-size edge matters less. Herbals are a wash on format and come down to recipe, where Tazo Passion is the standout.
Price, and the Amazon listing trap
Tazo boxes are typically $4 to $6 for 16 to 20 bags, around 25 to 35 cents a cup. Teavana's first-party boxes (English Breakfast, Earl Grey, 24 count) are around $14, roughly 55 to 60 cents a sachet, which is fair for a sachet. The trap is the popular Starbucks sachets such as Peach Tranquility and Jade Citrus Mint: on Amazon they are often third-party listings at $30 to $60 for 24, which is $1.25 to $2.50 a cup. At that price, buy them at a Starbucks counter or buy Tazo. Our Tazo review and Teavana review go blend by blend.
Which should you buy?
Buy Tazo if you want organic, everyday tea at a supermarket price: Awake for mornings, Passion for iced.
Buy Teavana if you want the Starbucks Earl Grey or the sachet format, and you are buying the first-party boxes. For how Tazo compares with its supermarket neighbours, see Tazo vs Bigelow and the best Tazo alternatives.
Questions, answered
Is Tazo or Teavana better?
Tazo is the better buy for everyday tea: cheaper, organic across most of the range, and its Awake English Breakfast and Passion herbal are excellent. Teavana makes the better Earl Grey and uses pyramid sachets with bigger leaf, but it costs roughly twice as much per cup.
Are Tazo and Teavana the same company?
Not any more. Starbucks owned both, Tazo from 1999 and Teavana from 2012, but sold Tazo to Unilever in 2017. Tazo is now part of Lipton Teas and Infusions; Teavana remains the Starbucks tea brand.
Does Starbucks still use Tazo tea?
No. Starbucks replaced Tazo with Teavana in its cafes around 2013 and sold the Tazo brand in 2017. Every hot and iced tea at Starbucks today is Teavana.
Which Teavana tea is the Starbucks Medicine Ball?
The Medicine Ball (Honey Citrus Mint Tea) is one sachet of Teavana Jade Citrus Mint and one of Peach Tranquility with hot water, steamed lemonade, and honey. Both sachets are often sold on Amazon only by third parties at high prices, so check the per-sachet cost.
Is Tazo tea organic?
Most of the current Tazo range, including Awake English Breakfast, Chai, and Zen, is USDA Organic; some herbals like Passion are not. Check the box, since Tazo sells organic and non-organic versions of a few blends.