By: allisonmseward12

Next to water, tea is regarded as the most widely consumed beverage in the world.

But America is addicted to coffee. What if a good cup of tea is your hot drink of choice?

Now there is hope.

On Wednesday Starbucks announced that it will pay $620 million to buy Teavana, a store chain specializing in premium loose leaf teas. The deal is one of many Starbucks has made to expand beyond mochas and lattes—the Huffington Post reports that last year the Seattle-based coffeehouse purchased La Boulange bakery for $100 million and fruit juice maker Evolution for $30 million.

While it is still unclear how Starbucks will incorporate Teavana’s products into their existing coffee shops, the company has said they plan to add tea bars to Teavana stores and develop packaged versions of the teas to be sold in retail locations.

Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks, says that his company will be able to add something new to the growing tea market:

“We can create very unique brewed teas—customized hot and cold beverages analogous to the espresso bars we introduced in the mid-’80s—and do for tea what we did for coffee.”

Schultz has recognized, though, that coffee and tea have very different audiences and cultures. He insists that Teavana stores will still give people the feeling that they’ve “stepped into a shrine of tea.”

Is Teavana a smart venture for Starbucks? Let us know in the comments below.