Teaspressa is a gourmet beverage company and producer of the only coffee and tea hybrid beverage that's available in the United States.
The company was founded by Allison DeVane, who started as a coffee lover but experienced frequent headaches and side effects from drinking coffee – which inspired her to create a solution.
With more than 10 years of experience in the tea and coffee industry, DeVane launched Arizona-based Teaspressa in 2015. For the business, she created specific tea blends for her proprietary brewing process, to make Teaspressa tea – a new tea profile that embodies the rituals and characteristics of coffee that everyone loves, but with all natural, quality, healthy loose-leaf tea.
Using DeVane’s patented Tea Concentrate Technology, Teaspressa’s handcrafted loose-leaf tea blends have the same caffeine content as a traditional espresso shot, while also providing consumers with the health benefits of traditional tea leaves. Teaspressa’s signature tea blends not only have the same consistency of coffee, but can be brewed at-home like coffee, too.
Featured on Shark Tank in 2016, DeVane’s entrepreneurial vision, passion and ingenuity have continued to earn her national recognition, including being named one of Arizona’s Most Influential Women. She was also featured in Vogue as one of “the new girl bosses” for her innovation and forward thinking, and selected as a member of The Tory Burch Foundation’s Business Fellows Program. She was also selected as an inaugural member of Intuit’s Small Business Council, where she works with Capitol Hill leaders for small business legislation reform.
DeVane is also passionate about counseling young entrepreneurs and was selected as a judge for Victoria’s Secret PINK GRL PWR Project 2020, alongside Victoria’s Secret’s CEO, Amy Hauk. The GRL PWR Project was launched to help fund and celebrate young women following their dreams, benefiting female empowerment, education and sustainability.
As a Black Korean business owner, DeVane is actively involved in the minority business community, including Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders and the Cabinet for Arizona State University’s Barrett The Honors College, and Arizona State Alumni Association’s business programs.
World Tea News chats with DeVane to learn more about Teaspressa, what sets her company apart, her time on Shark Tank, and some of the secrets to her success.
(Photo: Courtesy of Teaspressa)
Question: Hi, Allison – thanks for your time! When did you first become interested in tea, and what led you to launch your own tea business, Teaspressa? You were actually a coffee lover first, right?
Answer: I was! As much as I loved coffee it didn’t like me back. I would get headaches and stomach aches. My favorite part about coffee was the bold taste, texture and how versatile it is. I love lattes and when I was a barista I made latte art, which brought me so much joy to see my customers’ reaction with it. Tea was always a part of life. My mom is Korean and we drank it with meals, when we were sick, when we were with grandma, etc. I actually really wanted to start a coffee concept but also wanted to introduce something new to the world, so I combined the two worlds that I know, and that’s how Teaspressa was made!
Question: What do you love the most about tea?
Answer: I love taste and learning the complexity of it. It’s a whole world of its own that you can get lost in and spend a lifetime learning about. I especially love how tea has been treating me back with its health properties, natural caffeine and versatility in flavor combinations. I love trying new blends and flavor combinations. It never gets old for me. So, Teaspressa offers the only coffee and tea hybrid beverage available in the U.S.
Question: What can you tell us about that, as well as your patented Tea Concentrate Technology?
Answer: It is the best of both worlds – coffee and tea. To me, this is a dream come true, where I get to enjoy the rituals of coffee, such as the bold taste, the textures – of lattes for me – and even brewing methods in a new and different way that my body is also happy about. The way we process and brew tea is not traditional, and it may not be the flavor profile everyone is looking for, but if you’re into bold flavors, trying to find a coffee alternative, or enjoy a new beverage that can fit into your morning ritual, this is it for you!
(Photo: Courtesy of Teaspressa)
Question: Are your customers more coffee lovers or tea lovers?
Answer: We have both! We have alternative coffee lovers, those who are into beverages in general, tea lovers who love the bold taste, and people who love beverages looking to try something new. My favorite feedback I’ve received from a tea lover was that our tea was the profile she was trying to achieve with 10 tea bags.
Question: Tell us about the tea products you offer? And how do you make Teaspressa at home?
Answer: We offer our Signature Teas, LUXE Sugar Cubes to enhance the teas – you can add rose sugar cubes to black tea to make a black rose tea for example – LUXE Toppings to add to your tea to brew or decorate your tea, and beverage accessories, such as brewers, mugs, etc. You can make it at home with a French press, pour over, moka pot, aeropress or pour over [Editor’s Note: You can view tutorials here).
Question: What sets Teaspressa apart from other tea companies?
Answer: Our patent in how we brew and process tea to a coffee-like profile that is robust and can have as much caffeine. In addition to selling our products online, Teaspressa opened its first flagship café and storefront in Phoenix in March 2018.
(Photo: Courtesy of Teaspressa)
Question: What’s been the reception from customers, in terms of your flagship café and storefront? And do you have plans to open more Teaspressa cafés?
Answer: The reception was amazing. The cafes were a great way to put a face and taste to the name. Everything from the music, the natural lighting, the smells of the freshly brewed tea, the petals hanging from the ceilings, the rose petals on your drink, and the barista’s sprite personas truly brought our brand that was previously on a screen to life. We were voted best tea in Arizona, most instagrammable café, etc.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I made the hard decision to shut down my retail program and stick to online and wholesale. It was one of the hardest times I’ve been through personally and as a business. To this day, I have no outside investors and have bootstrapped our growth. Luckily for us, our pivot paid off and we ended up doubling in sales. Now, that is our primary business.
Question: When did you officially launch your business, and what challenges and hurdles did you encounter during the early days of your business?
Answer: I started Teaspressa in 2015 and have had so many hurdles. My biggest lessons? Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and ask for help. I used to think I was alone going through hardships but found that it was common with other entrepreneurs and learned that there are a lot of people out there that want to help! My other biggest piece of advice is to try to secure funding such as a line of credit, etc., as soon as you can when times are good. It’s necessary to have contingencies because it is a matter of time before you experience a hump.
(Photo: Courtesy of Teaspressa)
Question: You were on Shark Tank in 2016. How did that go? Did it help your business? I believe you were only about five months into your business when you participated on the show.
Answer: It definitely helped! I was only five months into it and it was quite the launch. I’ll never forget how I was updating the website as the show was airing. At the time, it was all me. I had no employees and all I had was the help of family and friends. It was like taking a crash course on running a business!
Question: Besides the national attention you received with Shark Tank in the U.S., what are some of your major successes thus far?
Answer: We are carried in several retailers, was featured in Forbes, voted best café in Arizona, a part of Sara Blakely’s backpack fund, and was able to pivot our business during the pandemic.
Question: How did you educate yourself about tea? And did you learn anything that surprised you?
Answer: I was self-taught and eventually I won a grant through the Tory Burch Foundation to do what I always dreamed of. I did a tea master course through the international tea academy in Puer, China. It was humbling and grounding to see and to work through the process of making tea. My appreciation for tea grew to a whole new level because of this course.
Question: How would you describe the U.S. tea market right now?
Answer: I see it as being on the rise! I love seeing more types of tea and tea preparations on more café menus.
Question: What industry trends and issues are you paying attention to right now and why?
Answer: I really love the trends with health and wellness. I’m personally into finding ways on how to improve my lifestyle and love how health is being integrated into things you consume everyday, such as tea or coffee.
(Photo: Courtesy of Teaspressa)
Question: What can you tell us about how you source your tea?
Answer: I went through countless tastings to source the right teas and to figure out the blends. All of our teas are ethically sourced from tea farms around the world.
Question: What’s been your best marketing tactic for your business thus far?
Answer: My best tactic when I got started was doing live events and collaborations with other businesses. This really built traction on social media, which is where we get the majority of referrals. It’s mainly word-of-mouth. Not only that, but even though it wasn’t always budget friendly, presentation was always a priority to me throughout the growth of the business.
Question: What advice do you have for other tea entrepreneurs or those who want to start a tea business?
Answer: Go for it! The hardest part about starting a business is actually starting it. Sometimes there are senses of being overwhelmed, questioning if you are good enough or know enough to do it, or just fear in general of failing. Failing is part of the process and what you need to go through multiple times to reach success, so might as well get going!
Question: Does Teaspressa offer wholesale opportunities?
Answer: We do! [Visit wholesale.teaspressa.com]
Question: Thanks for your time! Last question: What does the future hold for Teaspressa?
Answer: Right now, we are heavily focused on gifting. We plan on focusing on the hospitality and travel industry as well as going international. Overall, we plan on expanding our product offerings to all things that can enhance your beverage experience!
To learn more about Teaspressa, visit Teaspressa.com.
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