Ann Arbor will soon be home to a new company featuring tea...with a twist!
An Arizona entrepreneur pitched her idea on "Shark Tank" a couple of years ago, and after her appearance, Allison DeVane said her online sales got a boost. She turned the pain of rejection on the show into a successful business that's not coming to the area.
DeVane tried pitched her "coffee inspired tea" business to the sharks in 2016. While they liked the taste, they didn't bite on the idea. After the rejection, she said, "It really does hurt right now, but I know I can turn this into motivation to do better."
That's exactly what she did, and her business started brewing.
Teaspressa is about making tea-like espresso. She has two locations in Phoenix but she's getting ready to open a third location on Main St. in Ann Arbor.
"The focus of our brands is about the tea. The way we make the tea is a little different. I have a patent pending on making tea-like espresso," she said.
That was all proprietary methods of extracting the tea, like temperature and pressures and other factors that make it special.
DeVane said anything that can be done with coffee, she can do with tea here. That means tea lattes and coffee-inspired beverages.
"I really love coffee, but I can't have coffee every day because it gives me really bad headaches," she said. "So instead, I have tea now, and it gives a nice, clean caffeine rush and it's beautiful."
On the menu you'll find beverages made with steamed milk, tea, and espresso shots, even sugar cubes infused with lavender, rose and other flavors. The drinks cost $5 to $6.
Teaspressa's Ann Arbor location recently had its grand opening, but it's not open to the public just yet. We're told that will happen some time later this year.
