Draft:Tastea

Tastea is an American bubble tea, coffee and snack chain known for its variety of teas, smoothies, and fried appetizers. The brand is primarily concentrated in Western USA. The brand was founded by Scott Nguyen and Ted Vu: and has grown to 33 locations since its inception in September 2001.

Products

Tastea offers a wide range of products, including

• Peach Me Sweetea: A signature drink featuring black tea mixed with strawberry and peach juice, complemented by fresh diced strawberries and peaches.
• Specialteas: Fruit-based teas with various add-ons.
• Simpliciteas: Lightly flavored fruit teas or plain iced teas.
• Coffee: Vietnamese-style coffee with a hint of hazelnut.
• Milk Teas: Including a variety of fruit and classic teas such as Formosa, black, green, white, and Matcha tea (imported from Japan).
• Smoothies: Fruit-based blended iced drinks containing dairy.
• Slushies: Fruit-based iced drinks with add-ons.
• Good Eats: Fried appetizers like "Karate Chicken" (all white meat chicken breast), "Buttload'a Fries" (battered fries with seasonings), "Cap'n Shrimpie" (fried butterfly shrimp), calamari, and the "Jujutsu Bowl" (a rice bowl with popcorn chicken, corn, furikake, jasmine rice, and specialty sauce known as Wu Sauce).

Tastea's products are specifically created for the brand, with tea leaves sourced directly from tea farms in Asia to maintain consistency and quality.

Customizations

The company uses various types of milk, including whole milk, non-dairy, oat milk, and almond milk that can be used interchangeably in most drinks. All Tastea products have options to lessen sweetness or swap the pure cane syrup for a zero-calorie sweetener blend made of monk fruit, stevia, and erythritol. Tastea has 3 sizes, Plentea Twentea (20 oz), Thirtea Two (32 oz), and Partea Jug (1 Gallon).

History

Tastea began as a part-time project for founders Scott Nguyen and Ted Vu, initially gaining traction through events where they sold drinks from a trailer at California State University, Fullerton. The first store opened in 2001 in Little Saigon, on the border of Westminster and Garden Grove, California. Tastea quickly became popular for its wide variety of drinks, especially those featuring green honey boba.

The company expanded with the opening of its second location in Rowland Heights, California, in 2011. The third location, originally at The Block of Orange, was relocated to Costa Mesa in spring 2014.

In November 2016, Tastea began franchising, with the first franchise location opening in Chino Hills, San Bernardino County. The brand made its entry into Northern California in April 2017 with a store in the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose. From 2017 to 2019, Tastea opened ten additional locations (Irvine, Alhambra, Fountain Valley, Artesia, Long Beach, Riverside, Sunnyvale, Evergreen, Communications Hill) in California and expanded out of state with a location in Glendale, Arizona.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Tastea continued to grow, opening new stores in San Diego, Anaheim, Sacramento, Newark, and two additional locations in Garden Grove. The company adapted to the pandemic by transitioning many of its locations to Pick-Up Window formats to facilitate social distancing and by implementing tamper evident safety seals on food and drinks. During this period, Tastea also rolled out their online ordering app, allowing customers to order drinks and food from the safety of their homes. The app featured a rewards program where users could earn points on their purchases and offered delivery through third-party services, with all items sealed for safety.

In 2022, Tastea opened its first drive-thru location in Torrance, California after some delay, and continued expanding into cities such as Buena Park, Santa Ana, and others. In 2023 and 2024, new locations were opened in City of Industry, Silver Lake, Vietnam Town in San Jose, Temecula, Artesia, and a second location in Mesa, Arizona.

Locations

As of 2024, Tastea is present in 2 states with 33 locations