Par Avion Tea - 3 Free Samples
oooh me too! adorable teaware, they’ve got! can i get a teapot sample? LOL!
Like TastyBrew said up there, it looks like they source at least some of their teas from Tea Guys (even using the same pictures) and significantly bump up the prices.
For example, the Toffee Chocolate Hazelnut:
From Tea Guys: $7 for 3oz (http://www.teaguys.com/black-tea/20-toffee-chocolate-hazelnut.html)
From Par Avion: $8.99 for 1.76oz (http://www.paraviontea.com/black/toffee-chocolate-hazelnut)
Just a heads-up for people who were interested in maybe purchasing from them! I’ve been ripped off before by an Etsy seller claiming to make her own teas and they ended up being massively marked up Tea Guys blends. Might actually make a new topic about this kind of thing…
Okay, I did a bit of googling, and every single one of the black teas on the Par Avion webpage is from Tea Guys. The pictures and descriptions are the same, but some of the teas are renamed.
For example, the Chocolate Kisses tea on Par Avion seems to be identical in ingredients and written description to Tea Guys’ Chocolate Delight. The Madagascar Vanilla Bean is the same as Tea Guys’ French Vanilla Bean. Par Avion’s Chocolate Covered Strawberry is Tea Guys’ Chocolate Strawberry Saffron (note here that the new name does not actually reflect the flavors in the tea, as it no longer names the saffron.)
More troubling is the fact that the Red Velvet Raspberry Truffle on Par Avion is one of Tea Guys’ retired blends. I dunno. That kind of irks me.
The whole thing is weird, though, because they change some of the names, but do next to nothing to hide the fact that the blends are the same—like change the descriptions.
That sort of reselling is not at all unique to them, as a heads up. It’s surprisingly common practice. I think Utopia, Fusion, Georgia Tea, Culinary Teas IIRC, and some others I’ve tried have teas and blends that clearly come from a general source. It is kind of annoying if you buy and it blindsides you, yeah. A lot of neat sounding blends, if you type ‘em in the Steepster search box, you’ll get like 3 or 4 different tea companies all carrying it and it’s clear most are the same tea from one source rebranded and sold. It’s not exactly dishonest, it’s a well known thing, but yeah, it can be understandably off-putting if you don’t know about it.
That’s very true! I’ve actually been wondering for awhile about how widespread it is…I’m writing up the first post for a new topic about this subject right now so this one doesn’t swing too far off topic!
Another good example of this is Metropolitan Tea Company. They sell their teas in bulk to tea shops. Those tea shops than can do what they wish. Whether they rename it, write up a new description, or keep the original one, it up to the company. Companies can also buy labels from Metropolitan to use for the teas if they wish.
Has anyone received their free samples yet?
I haven’t either. Although I am in Canada so I am expecting a longer shipping time but it doesn’t seem like anyone have posted about receiving these. I am wondering if it was just a scam to get people to their website.
I have not received them either. I figure they probably got a little swamped and I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for another week.
I found the link on Reddit, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt they are swamped.
Has anyone gotten the samples yet? I just emailed them to see what’s up. I’ll let you know if I hear back!
Have not received/heard anything from them. But when I did sign up, I emailed their customer service and received a reply within a timely manner. They were very polite. Still a little hesitant whether this is just another scam like teamonger or not…
Nothing here ethier, but I am not sure mine went thru or not. If it didn’t, not to fussed about it.
I got an email back! This is what it said:
“Thanks for signing up for In Home Sampling. Samples are mailed quarterly on a first come first serve basis. While supplies last. This quarters sample requests will start shipping at the end of March.
Looking forward to having you sample Par Avion Tea!!!"
So, I guess we just have to wait.
never received anything
Me neither. Though I’ve gotten so many other teas lately that I’m not too put out by it.
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