Last updated on July 14, 2017
Local Amory Street business EvyTea is expanding its production, distribution and will open a second tea bar thanks to $1 million of investment funding.
Evy Chen created the cold-brewed tea business in 2012 with a production location in South Boston. EvyTea eventually grew out of that space and moved to its Jamaica Plain location to continue its brewing production, and also added a popular brick and mortar tea bar.
EvyTea raised the $1 million in funding through the crowdfunding platform CircleUp, according to BostInno. Along with increasing production, EvyTea will open a restaurant in Charlestown.
When Chen first tried cold-brewed tea, she was “blown away” by its smoothness, natural sweetness and lack of bitterness, all with one-third the caffeine of hot-brewed teas. Her teas are now sold in Whole Foods all over the Northeast.
The tea bar offers many cold-brew drinks on tap, including a vibrant array of teas lined up on the counter: hibiscus with pineapple and lemon, oolong with lychee and lemongrass, and black tea with strawberry and basil, among others. It takes at least 16 hours to cold-brew her teas, which are infused with honey and fruit, rather than sugar.
EvyTea and Chen have also recently gained national attention as Forbes.com named her as an Immigrant Entrepreneur Poised to Shake Up the U.S. Culinary Landscape in June.