We were lucky to catch up with Carole Bright-alvarez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carole, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

Oftentimes when Americans think of a “Tea House” we harken back to the familiar British approach “tea time”: white table clothes, intricate finger foods, crustless sandwiches, ornate porcelain teapots, milk and sugar.

We take tea presentation back further to its’ real roots in China, India, Taiwan, Japan, & Sri Lanka. Our environment can be described as Asian contemporary, with bamboo table tops and black accent shelving.

We push the boundaries of tea preparation serving tea-infused cocktails, slush teas, boba teas, tea flights, flash chilled iced teas and cold brewed grab and go’s. Our two rolling library style ladders that access our 6 cabinets of tea drawers help create an old world feel. We encourage people to smell, see and explore our world of tea.

While we sell amazing European style baked goods, we also offer edamame, quiche, burritos and hummus. A nod to the greater world around us.

We believe in the importance of education. We offer a line up of 16 various tea classes: from TEA 101 to Tea & Chocolates pairings and Tea Cocktail Infusion class. Hand written chalk boards adorn the walls, explaining all about the types of tea. caffeine levels and plant locations. Our servers “Cha bo shi’s” are trained to not only answer all tea related questions, but to also share folklore and stories about individual historic teas.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As the daughter of an exploration geologist and artist from the Isle of Man, tea was my destiny. Exotic loose leaf teas were always present in our home – my dad bringing them from all parts of the world to his tea-loving Manx wife.

It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized this type of tea consumption was not typical. My friends saw me at the tea aficionado, and could always count on me to make them a great “cuppa”.

When completing my MBA program, I created an imaginary business: a “Starbucks” of TEA! Several years later my husband suggested I make that business plan a reality.

I think it’s significant to note that my passion for tea came before the business was created. It is an important part of our success. The love of tea is what drives my business (as opposed to wanting a business and then deciding to sell tea.)

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

We started with a second mortgage on our home. In the midst of our first build out the bank (Washington Mutual) declared bankruptcy and called in all loans as due! I had already spend almost $90,000 and they were demanding I pay it back before I even had a chance to open! (I cried every morning in the shower, thinking I was going to cost my family our home!) What bank would underwrite a loan to payoff another loan and to support an unproven new business?

Fortunately, a friend who was a loan officer at another bank, heard of my dilemma and came to my rescue. She was able to get me a bigger loan,at a better rate and we paid back the first bank and could continue with the build out. (But gave me at least 3 weeks of pure financial panic.)

We paid off the loan in year 8 and I didnt take a paycheck until year 6. Again, passion for the product kept me going.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

We have developed several revenue streams within our bricks and mortar business. Firstly, our webiste. It keeps us connected to the many tourists who visit our shop from other states and countries. We ship to tea lovers all over the world! People know they can count on our quality, our amazing selection and beautiful blends.
We also added a liquor license in year 2. This allows us to create a variety of tea-infused cocktails, have beer on tap, offer wine and champagne!
More recently, we have been developing and expanding our wholesale program. Currently, we sell to 24 local coffee shops, breweries, distilleries and hotels. Especially during Covid, this part of our business became very valuable.
Our selection of tea classes (16 different classes) has also grown to be its own revenue stream! We host public classes once a month and private classes as requested and coordinated both on and off site.
Renting out our community back room is also a great way we generate additional revenue. It’s a great place for meetings, parties, classes and informal gatherings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://in-tea.net
• Instagram: @in.tea.littleton
• Facebook: iN-TEA
• Yelp: iN-TEA

Image Credits

Kaitlin Rayne