Welcome to the first-ever battle of the brands. Allow me to introduce the two contenders – mainstream tea heavyweight, Stash Tea Company, and tea newcomer, Tazo. Tea lovers the world over will come to see this battle unfold. Who will emerge victorious? Whose tea will reign supreme? Read on to find out!
Longevity
In this category, Stash and Tazo go head to head, but there is only one clear winner. Tazo is a relative baby in the tea industry, having launched in 1994. On the other hand, Stash has been around since 1974 – a full two decades longer than Tazo.
Even though Stash comes out ahead in this first round, it is still anyone’s game.
Price
On the internet, prices seem to vary wildly for these two premium tea brands. I routinely buy Stash tea in my local Safeway store for right around $3.50, which is for a box of 20 filter bags. Stash is often on sale 2-for-$6, which further lowers the cost by $1. At that same Safeway store, Tazo sells for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.50 for the same size box of filter bags, and I’ve yet to see it on sale.
Once again, in the price round, Stash lumbers forward, threatening to dominate Tazo completely. It is worth noting, though, that for true tea lovers, money is no object. Don’t let the prices fool you…
Accessibility
In this round, Stash and Tazo will fight in two mini-categories – availability of their product and internet presence.
A quick comparison at your local grocery store will give you a good idea of which brand is more widely available than the other. Once again, Stash gets it. I have yet to be in a store that didn’t sell Stash tea, but despite the fact that Tazo has been in business since 1994, I only recently started seeing it in retail outlets. Stash is also a staple offering in many restaurants and cafes. Tazo, to the best of my knowledge, is not yet on that scale.
In the website category, we see an unexpected upset. Tazo’s website is, hands-down, one of the coolest websites I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. I do wish that Tazo had online ordering capabilities like Stash does, but they more than make up for it with website design. To pick your own winner in this category, visit http://www.stashtea.com and http://www.tazotea.com and see for yourself. Make sure to “Consult the Tea Leaves” while at Tazo.
Variety
Stash Tea Company boasts 200 different tea offerings at current. Compare that with the 80 that Tazo has, and you can guess who wins this round. This is another handicap for Tazo, because if I had never been to their website and only ever saw their tea at the grocery store, I would have thought that they only offered 3 different types of tea. In that respect, it really is amazing that they actually have 80 different blends. It’s just sad that most people wouldn’t know that by looking at their local store. Luckily for Tazo, what they lack in variety compared to Stash, they make up for in:
Flavor
Sure, Stash may have 200 different flavors of tea on the market today, but even the most loyal Stash follower must admit that Stash pretty much has a WYSIWYG interface when it comes to each tea flavor. Not that this is a bad thing, necessarily. When I steep a bag of Mango-Passion-fruit tea, I want to taste mango and passion-fruit. When I sip a cup of Peach, it had better taste like peaches. Those tea experiences are what I have come to expect, and are exactly what I get, when I drink any Stash tea variety.
What sets Tazo teas apart is the fact that their teas are not just one single variety or even a single flavor, but are a blend of several different types of tea and a blend of several different herbal ingredients. This produces brews that are extremely unique, unlike any other tea on the market. The end product is a strong, full-flavored tea that really makes you question why you have been drinking other brands all these years. In short, Tazo tea is, well, adventurous.
Who is the Winner?
If we went by the category leaders, Stash would obviously come out ahead. At the end of the day (or the beginning – whenever you enjoy your tea the most), it is up to you to decide whether Stash tea or Tazo tea is your personal favorite. Yes, that answer is rather anti-climactic, but seriously, a true lover of teas will take the time to test each brand for themselves instead of taking my word for it.
Recommendations
Being a tea lover and tea addict, I happen to enjoy both Stash and Tazo teas. I also prefer black teas over herbals. Tazo’s Awake and Stash’s English Breakfast are my personal favorites. For herbals, I recommend Stash’s Raspberry, Peach, and Mango-Passion-fruit.
I’d be a bad daughter if I didn’t interject my mom’s favorite. She has been hooked by Tazo ever since she first tried it several years ago, and her recommendation is Tazo’s Chai. I tried it after she suggested it to me, and it literally is spicy. Amongst other ingredients, Chai contains ginger, cardamom, star anise, and black pepper. I didn’t like it but my mom swears by it, which is just a testament to the fact that each person is different. The Tazo Chai just wasn’t my cup of tea, that’s all.
In conclusion, I hope you have enjoyed this battle of the brands between Stash Tea Company and Tazo, and that their competition here has imparted you with the wisdom and knowledge intended. Now then… Go drink a cup of tea!
