Full Leaf Brewed Tea

This morning at 10am, Starbucks offered for free a tall size tea drink to the first 100 customers.  This enabled their regular customers to sample their new products such as Starbucks Oriental Beauty Oolong tea, Starbucks white mu dan tea and Bi Luo Chun Green Tea.

Each tea bag are uniquely packaged in a triangular shape.  The tea bag can be used 12 times and contains full leaf tea.  A box of 12 bags costs RMB 80.  I tried the green tea and as usual, it’s bitter and needs a lot of sugar for me to drink it.  Chinese drink different types of tea for different seasons.  I’m not sure if Green tea is best for winter and white tea is best for summer or the other way around.  Oolong tea is nice to mix with milk.

Tea Latte and New Cakes

To replace their yummy honey orange latte and to go with their current theme, Starbucks launched Tea Latte.  Tea Latte is a mixed of tea and milk.  Hmm.. wouldn’t that be milk tea then?  Hehehe!  Anyway, you can either choose Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea as based for your tea latte.  Prices ranged from RMB 25 for tall, RMB 28 for grande and RMB 31 for venti.

Of course, what’s coffee or tea without cakes.   This season’s pastry offerings are Green Tea Tiramisu for RMB 23 and Original Ham & Cheese Ciabatta for RMB 28.

Merchandise

Besides the standard global icon tumblers, mugs and mini-mugs, Starbucks also sell seasonal tumblers, mugs, coffee beans, bears, tea pots, and tea bags.  For the tumblers, they have the cherry blossom design in sky blue and pink.  Another set in assorted flower design.  12 oz tumblers are RMB 85 each, 20 oz tumblers are RMB 110 each and 8 oz tumblers are RMB 75 each.

Our Starbucks bear mascot, is dressed like a gardener in green and pink and is selling for RMB 128.  Tea cups and pots are also for sale to complement the tea that you’ll be drinking.  There’s a colorful tea cup set of three in red, green and blue for RMB 160.   

A teapot with 2 tea cups set in white costs RMB 160.  This is commonly used with tea leaves and not tea bags.  There’s also a 12 oz tumbler with filter.  This is good for people who don’t like to remove each and every leaf that you might drink when you use a tea pot.  Also, this is good for individuals and in the office.  This tumbler costs RMB 150.

In-store Promo:

From February 23 to April 26, 2010, when you purchase a tea drink and RMB 48 worth of Starbucks products, Starbucks will give you a free coaster. 

Well.. I’m not sure if Chinese will be willing to pay this much for tea because when you eat in a restaurant, they normally give you free tea.  Who knows, maybe the way they package the tea will attract their customer’s attention and will help drive sales.  In any case, I’m going to miss the yummy honey orange latte.  According to the Starbucks staff in our building, you can still ask for it if it’s still available in that store. 

Here are the steps in creating a Starbucks latte for half the price:

• Bring your own Starbucks mug at your nearest Starbucks store and buy a cup of espresso.
• At the condiments counter, pour 3/4 cup of milk into your own mug.
• Pour your cup of espresso into your own mug.
• Stir your concoction and add necessary flavors like cinnamon or chocolate.

Easy right?!  With only the price of an espresso, you’ll get your own cafe latte.  I haven’t tried it yet but I might do so in the near future.   Post your experience if you’ve tried the tip above and let other readers know if it worked to your satisfaction. 

Now.. where did my Starbucks mug go? 

Photo credit:  http://speedendurance.com

Christmas has come and gone so did the New Year.  That means next major holiday in Beijing is Chinese New Year.  With this holiday comes new merchandise at Starbucks.  Since I’m working for the building’s leasing department, I was able to get the latest news buzz about Starbucks from the newly opened store in our 3rd level.  In my previous post, I’ve talked about the Christmas stuff, well.. if you’re lucky enough the remaining unsold merchandise will go on sale soon. 

What I’m going to post today is what will be happening at Starbucks starting tomorrow till February.  I believe they will update the site soon to correspond to their new offerings.  The theme for January and February is “Celebrating with Coffee”.

Coffee and Food

The delicious Honey Orange Latte is back!  I’ve tried this last year courtesy of my Starbucks cousin addict Gold who graciously treated me to this wonderful concoction.  A tall cup will cost you RMB30, Grande is RMB 33 and Venti is RMB 36.

To go along with your latte, you can either have a Honey Peach Souffle Cheese Cake (RMB 23) or a

Chocolate Royal Raspberry Crunch (RMB 23).  Of course, the usual pastry selection will do as well but why not try something new right?  BTW, the chocolate muffin isn’t that great.  It’s huge but nothing to brag about.  It will also set you back by RMB 12.  The regular muffin sold in packs of four in the supermarket is way better than Starbucks..

Chinese New Year Merchandise

I’ll start first with the Chinese New Year merchandise.  As this coming new year will be the year of the tiger, their merchandise will revolve around this animal.  If you’re a coin bank collector like my aunt, you can purchase the tiger coin bank for RMB 108.  For bear collectors, the CNY Starbucks bear is dressed in an orange tiger costume.  This year, Starbucks launched a candy dish which is shaped like a tiger(?) for RMB 108.  I put a question mark there as even the Starbucks staff thinks that it doesn’t look like a tiger except for the color.  Check out the photo on the right and let me know what animal is it.   

For mug collectors, they have the Chinese new year tiger mug.  It’s medium sized and costs RMB 80.  For tea drinkers, they have this beautiful oriental tea cup with a butterfly holder and costs RMB 75.  This is medium sized like the Tiger mug.  The picture looks small but it’s actually mid-size.  I saw the actual cup and I would suggest seeing the actual before you decide to buy it based on the picture.

Another great gift for your loved ones during Chinese New Year on top of the red envelope will be this set of two tea cups with an odd design to ward off evil spirits.  It’s in both red and white and white and red color.  A set will cost you RMB 150.  I would not actually call it tea cup because the actual size looks like soup bowls to me.  Hehehe!

For the tumbler selection, you will have the his and hers “Tiger” character tumbler in pink and pale bronze color.  The pink is glittery with transparent design at the back.  The pale bronze color is not transparent and doesn’t have the glittery design but a matte look.  This “Tiger” tumbler is simple, elegant and perfect for office settings.  It has the name of Starbucks Coffee, 虎 and Tiger in the middle in white color.  Both tumblers cost RMB 85 each.

After the simple but elegant Tiger tumbler, the next tumbler has a cartoony feel.  The background is in pale orange with a red lantern and a young Chinese boy.  This tumbler costs RMB 85 and is not available in Taiwan.  The more elegant and elaborate tumbler costs RMB 85 and is red in color with gold window design with the tumbler shaped in the middle.

To make your house special during Chinese New Year, you can purchase this Starbucks hanging ornament to put on your wall.  This ornament costs RMB 68.

If you want the tiger doll on the left side of the picture, from January 4 to February 22, 2010, Starbucks will give this RMB 68 tiger doll for free for every RMB 288 purchase in a single receipt.  Use of the VIP card and purchase of the South Cloud coffee beans will deem you ineligible for this promotion.

Valentines Day Merchandise

This year, the western Valentines Day is also Chinese New Year.  My colleague is bemoaning that Valentines won’t be special as it’s also Chinese New Year.  Hehehe.. of course, hearts will be the main theme for this occasion.  So.. Starbucks Bear is wearing a red flower head piece, pink dress with a red heart in the middle and a pair of red shoes.  The tumbler is designed in with red hearts in square pattern.  Some of the hearts are in metallic red color.  The tumbler costs RMB 85. 

The mugs comes in two designs.  The red (inside) and white (outside) color mug has embossed white hearts with red hearts in the middle.  It also has the word love on one of the hearts and Starbucks Coffee on the handle.  This mug costs RMB 75.   The white (inside) and red (outside) color mug has plant like design with heart shapes.  The Starbucks coffee name is inside the mug.  This mug costs RMB 80.

So.. what are you waiting for.  If you like any of those items in the pictures above, better fall in line at your nearest Starbucks coffee shop on January 4 as those merchandise hit the shelves.  If the merchandise are like the Christmas merchandise, I’m pretty sure they’ll be selling like hotcakes.  Happy Starbucks Shopping!

This Christmas, Starbucks launched new sets of merchandise.  From bears, candles, calendars, planners, mugs, tumblers, ornaments and discount card.  As a newly opened store, customers who has a minimum purchase of RMB 88 will get a chance to win in their lucky draw.  In the lucky draw, you stand a chance to win free drink coupon, free buy one get one coupon, mugs, tumblers and other old edition items.  Out of the 4 times I’ve tried the lucky draw, I wasn’t lucky enough to win any mugs or tumblers.  I’ve wont 3 buy one get one coupon and one free drink coupon.

If you’re friends with the manager of the store, they can also give you a receipt that you fill up with the code online to claim a free drink.  Hmm… I think I’ve had 5 free drinks since the store opened in December 2.  Cool eh? 

For the merchandise, sad to say they’re running out of the Christmas merchandise items.  Even in other stores, the Christmas merchandise are selling like hotcakes.  I was able to purchase two planners at RMB 98 each as gifts for my cousins who are Starbucks collectors.  When you buy a planner, you’ll get a free drink coupon valid at all Beijing and Tianjin Starbucks stores with an expiration of Dec 31, 2010. 

For a minimum purchase of RMB 88, you can also purchase their Christmas ornament, calendar and candle.  The Starbucks candle comes in three design, red, white wide mug and white tall mug version.  The candle cost RMB 12 each.  The Christmas ornament is in the design of a clear tumbler without the straw.  I’m not sure how much it is as they don’t have this at the store in my building.  I forgot the cost of the calendar but you might as well not purchase it unless you’re really collecting it.

The bears, tumblers and mugs are all sold out in the store at my office building.  The tumblers range from RMB 75 to RMB 95.  They come in small and medium sizes.  Some are  for kids, while the other are for adults.  They all come with a Christmas theme with the cartoon-y design of snowmen to simple red and white designs with snowflakes and doves.  The bears are all dressed up in Santa outfit while the mugs ranges from the simple red with Starbucks name to colorful designs which even involves the inside of the mug. 

Last Friday, regular customers can purchase a newly launched discount card.  The discount card costs RMB 88 and it comes with a free drink coupon and four buy one get one free drink coupons valid on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Women’s Day.  Regular customers who purchased the card can get 10% off on all items including beverages, merchandise and food.  The card is valid until April 30, 2010.  I’ve purchased one card and used it already even on discounted merchandises.  It doesn’t have a name on it so, colleagues and friends can borrow your card and avail of the discount.

Well.. I think I’ve said enough and marketed the store too much!  Hahaha!!  Merry Christmas and Happy Coffee drinking!

I told her to get me two Sydney tumblers and a Sydney and Melbourne mug.  When she came back, she brought one Sydney tumbler and and Australian mug.  *sigh*  She mistakenly ordered the Hangzhou tumblers as well which I’m currently selling to interested buyers.

In any case, here are the pictures of the tumbler and mug she bought for educational purposes.

So, when I had time to kill during my layover in Hong Kong.  I made a beeline straight to the Starbucks shop at the transfer area of HK airport.  Lo and behold, they have the elusive Starbucks clear tumbler which was already sold out in Beijing and Manila.  They had several more of it and I grabbed two because Don and Gold wanted them.  The good thing about it, it’s on sale for HK$68.  When I went back after my stay in the Philippines a week later, it’s no longer available and it’s a shame as Gold wanted two more.

I spent the whole Friday walking at Tsim Sha Tsui and visited every Starbucks shop that I saw hunting for the clear tumbler but wasn’t able to find any.  However, they released a new set of mini-mugs.  The mini-mugs are for Stanley, Ngong Ping, The Peak and Star Ferry.   Each mini-mug cost HK$40.  I sent a message to my cousin using my ipod Touch but she said she doesn’t want one for now as she’s running out of money.  Gold doesn’t want to collect it either.  Oh well.. maybe you guys want one of them.  Here are the photos.. better grab them as they sell like hotcakes!

(Photo credits: http://ebay.com.hk and http://starbuxx.multiply.com)