Comments on: lifehack: Cracking the Starbucks Green Tea Code

By: Vince

Vince — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:36:07 +0000

OR YOU COULD GET 50 CENT REFILS ON YOUR GREEN TEA, THAT SAVES YOU 1.60!

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:50:42 +0000

It’s not a secret. You can buy it in the store, or even at the grocery store. It’s Tazo “Zen” tea – brew it a double strength, add sugar, and then pour it over ice.

By: tlm

tlm — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 02:28:38 +0000

Hey, it is not so complicated. It is their zen green tea and classic syrup. No big secret. You get 3 pumps of syrup for a tall, 4 for grande, and 6 for a venti.

thanks

By: dave

dave — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:03:16 +0000

The Venti size is 20 oz in a hot cup and twenty four oz in and iced cup! So its a little bit more for your money than you are making it out to be.

By: reginae

reginae — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 03:50:34 +0000

smithee, i couldn’t find the tazo iced green tea ingredients on the starbucks website. . . care to share the link?

By: sean

sean — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 03:25:16 +0000

Annie,
i sympathize on your anti-starbucks sentiment- have you seen this site yet-> http://www.delocator.net/ it’s a must.

no clue on they make their black tea. honestly i haven’t tried any other flavors since I found the green tea- i love that one. i’ll check it out next time i’m there and let you know if I can crack the recipe on that one.

sean

By: Annie

Annie — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:19:16 +0000

that’s cool that you ‘cracked the starbucks code.’ i’ve actually been anti-starbucks for almost a year now, b/c of the repeatedly crappy service among other things (lack of a microwave for my muffins, 25 min wait in line, what have you).

anyhoo, i miss my venti half-sweetened iced black tea. do you have any idea how that one is made? i know the sweetener is a water/sugar concoction.

By: smithee

smithee — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:10:25 +0000

The licorice in the Celestial sounds tasty. I’m brewing up a gallon right now with the Trader Joe’s tea at 1-1 gree tea to mint melange. I’ll have to try Celestial next. (btw, the 2-1 turned out to be fantastic once I let it chill in the fridge and poured it over crushed ice.)

I’d always heard about the benefits of green tea, but I didn’t enjoy it until I tried the Starbucks and got addicted like you.

Now I’m addicted to my variation on your helpful recipe. Thanks!

By: sean

sean — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 23:43:25 +0000

Smithee,
that\’s interesting- i suppose I should have checked their site first to see if they actually published their own recipe… I swear the Celestial Seasonings combination is nearly identitcal to their flavor. I tried the mix with green tea and echinecea from another brand and it was even close. Looking at the ingredients on the CS Echinecea box it seems to fortuitously have the mint as well as some other ingredients like licorice and chicory root.

whatever it is, it\’s good stuff and a heck of a lot cheaper than Sbucks…
sean

By: smithee

smithee — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:22:10 +0000

Thanks for the tip. I also checked out the Starbucks site which says that their Tazo iced green tea is green tea, mint, lemon grass and lemon yerbena.

Based on your post and the SB info I went today and picked up a box of Trader Joe’s Organic Green Tea and a box of Trader Joe’s Organic Mint (peppermint, spearmint and lemongrass). Both are under $3 for 20 bags.

My first batch was 2 green tea to 1 mint/lemongrass. I’m sipping it now and it’s close and tasty, but not quite right. I’ll try 1-1 next and see if that is more similar.

As an aside, Trader Joe’s is also selling a gallon jug of pre-made Green and white tea. It’s not even close. They use citric acid as a lemon flavor substitute which gives it a vaguely artificial taste.