We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caitlin Cash a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Caitlin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

After graduating from college, I worked abroad for 6 years, first in education and then in cycling tourism. I feel really fortunate that I was able to experience so many different cultures in my 20’s, and I spent most of my time in tea forward countries like Thailand and Ireland. I was teaching English in central Thailand, and every morning before school, I would stop at the local 711 and pick up a bottled milk tea. It became part of my daily ritual! When I moved back to Austin, I started tinkering in my tiny home kitchen and anytime friends would come over, I would force them to try my newest recipes. I wanted it to be good; I don’t like to do anything halfway. My friends starting taking milk tea to work and then their co-workers started reaching out and asking to buy it. And I was like, oh shit, this isn’t for sale. I started offering it up on Instagram and would produce it, leave it in a mini retro fridge on my porch, and friends would come pick it up every weekend. Eventually, I decided to go for it in a bigger way. I made about 200 milk teas, put them in coolers in the back of my car, and drove around Austin introducing myself to mom and pop stores. I dropped off samples, chatted with owners and managers, and those stores gave me a chance. Being a part of the fabric of the Austin community has been incredible, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without the local, independent grocers giving us a chance to shine.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi, everyone! My name is Caitlin Cash, and I’m the founder of Kinship Milk Tea. We are an Austin-based ready to drink vegan milk tea with a focus on tea forward flavors and refreshing drinkability. I grew up in Austin. I’m a true leisure athlete mostly focused on mountain biking. I love to spend my free time cooking new recipes, not taking myself too seriously, and I recently taught myself to like olives and had my very first martini, which I loved!

We currently have four skus, and it’s easiest to understand their flavor profiles in terms of seasons. Earl Grey is spring – it’s the OG and the best seller. It’s the most familiar to consumers, so it’s a good gateway, with delicate notes of lavender and citrus. Wuyi Oolong is fall – it’s a crowd pleaser and has hints of toasted hazelnuts, apricot jam, and caramel. Lapsang Souchong is winter – it tastes like a campfire in your mouth (no, really). The smokiness comes from the tea leaves being withered over pine branches; think of it as the tea version of mezcal. Our newest addition to the lineup is English Breakfast, or summer. It’s a no frills, straight forward black milk tea. It’s easy drinkin’ and one that you’ll grab again and again.

When I think of Kinship, I think of us as the unruly younger brother that’s really lovable but doesn’t follow the rules very well. We break a lot of the molds in tea culture by steeping our tea within an inch of its life to draw out all the flavor – that’s what allows it to stand up to the oat milk and sugar. Tea culture can be pretty snobbish and we aren’t that. We want to be approachable and playful.

Our mission is connection through common ground. When I think of a bottle of Kinship, I think of it as a distillation of experiences and people I’ve met along the way during my travels. I want it to evoke a sense of nostalgia and make you feel something. Life is messy and imperfect, and so are we.

Coffee has a hold on us. I’ll be the first to admit that I am a coffee lover. But after a cup or two in the morning, I’m looking for something different later in the day. I want something that is lightly caffeinated and refreshing. That’s where Kinship comes in. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water. But here in the US, we haven’t fallen in love with it yet on a broader scale. We want to help change that. Each 12 oz bottle has roughly one espresso shot’s worth of caffeine without the jitters. It is a refreshing alternative to an iced coffee. It’s the Goldilocks of milk tea – not too creamy, not too sweet, but just right!

I’m most proud of the community that we have built. It brings me so much joy meeting customers while we are out stocking shelves or doing sampling events in stores; they keep us going!

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Being from Austin, the local community is incredibly important to me. I truly believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, and I want to see other small businesses succeed. We did a Love Letters to Austin series on social media for Valentine’s Day a few years ago where we interviewed the store owners or managers about their lives, how they got into the food and beverage industry, what their hobbies were, and asked about their dreams and goals. We took polaroids of each of them and posted them throughout the month of February. It was so fulfilling getting to know our partners better and spending meaningful time with them. Our customers really appreciated it, and our store partners really loved it. I see every single store as our partner; we want to support what they are doing and strengthen the relationship.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being a small business owner is really difficult; it’s a non-stop game that you’re playing to try to keep the lights on. When funding is tight or the economy isn’t the best, one wrong step can be the difference between succeeding and going out of business. I had some deeply challenging personal difficulties pretty early on in the business, and I thought that we were going to have to shut Kinship down right as we were getting started. I had an out of office up for about 3 months, we stopped fulfilling orders, and we just hit the pause button. Every time I tried to shut the business down, something told me to keep going – I would get a random email from a customer saying how much they loved what we were doing or a customer would reach out via Instagram to send positive thoughts as we were taking a break. It really kept it all in perspective for me, and we were able to get started again. I’m still dealing with the repercussions of the personal challenges and as in every job, there’s a super thin line between our personal and professional lives. When you are a small business owner, that line becomes even more blurred. I leaned on my community, friends, and family, and we were able to come out the other side and keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kinshipmilktea.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinshipmilktea/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-cash-3331277/
• Other: Business linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kinship-milk-tea/

Image Credits

Bonfire Creative
If Only Creative
Nick Keating (head shot)