Only steps away from Prague’s Vltava River lies Strossmayer Square, home to the century-old Church of St. Anthony of Padua, which towers over the bricked street. Lying in its shadow, in a garden-level storefront, resides Čajovna U Kostela or the Teahouse at the Church. The unassuming, almost hidden entrance functions as a portal to another world. Passing through the door, visitors and locals alike walk over the traditional carpets that adorn the wooden floors. Behind a frame of curtains, glass jars house dozens of teas atop the weathered wooden bar.
On February 24, 2009, when childhood friends Dan Klein (GIES ’10) and Patrick Tannous walked through the glass front door, they were greeted by the intermingling smells of brewing tea and burning hookah. They were not avid tea drinkers, just American college kids studying abroad, and the pot of “Granny’s Garden” tea they were given was far from the Lipton they were accustomed to at home. This was loose-leaf tea in a pot with strawberries, cranberries, and blueberries floating in the steaming water. They could see and smell each ingredient. The lava lamp-esque show of colors that bloomed from the tea hitting the hot water was art. It was like nothing they had experienced. They left that day with a few bags of tea and a budding idea of a business.
Weeks later, they arrived home from their trip abroad with a suitcase full of tea. Set on creating the business, Tannous moved to Champaign. As they were laying the groundwork for their future company, they shared the tea with all their friends and drank it themselves daily.
With so much being consumed, their tea stash started to dwindle. Desperate to get more, Klein researched the shop, found a phone number, and called them up. After stumbling through translations, The Teahouse at the Church told them they couldn’t ship it. As the guys sat savoring their last mugs of tea, they had no doubt this was the start of their next chapter.
The Business is Born
While all successful businesses take skill and the right people, most credit a bit of luck, too. As Klein and Tannous continued to ideate, a fortuitous connection propelled them from idea to the real world. One of Klein’s friends from St. Viator High School had a cousin who started the World Tea Expo. With their tickets to the event secured, Klein and Tannous took off for Las Vegas. When they got there, the guys didn’t waste any time; they soaked up all they could learn, made connections with suppliers, and immersed themselves in the world of tea.
More determined than ever, the guys truly got to work. They were selling tea at the Urbana’s farmers market every week, setting their alarms for 1:30 a.m. to start brewing and packaging tea in their campus apartment. Between their friends and trips to the market, Klein and Tannous were beginning to understand their customers. Already sold on the taste, people kept asking, “What’s this tea going to do for me?” The guys found it was just as important to share the benefits of the tea as it was to introduce people to the bold flavors.
That same summer, in 2010, they won a spot in the university’s business incubator, now called the iVenture Program. Thankfully, this allowed them to move their operation to a space in Research Park. Klein and Tannous pitched their idea to numerous investors. They had no idea their business and lives were about to be flipped upside down when the founder of Jimmy Johns, Jimmy John Liautaud, walked through the door.
Like so many times before, they gave their pitch and went on with their day. The guys went out that night riding high from meeting Liautaud, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Illinois. At 7 a.m. the following day, Klein’s phone rang. It was Liautaud saying he needed the guys at his office at noon sharp. The guys arrived elated and a little nervous. He relayed that he respected what Klein and Tannous were doing. In fact, they had already caught Liautaud’s eye hustling tea at the Urbana’s farmers market.
“I want to help, but I’m not going to give you any money,” Liautaud said. Klein and Tannous’ stomachs dropped. In the same second, Liautaud picked up his phone and called John Kraynak, the creative director at Jimmy Johns, into his office. Liautaud relayed that the guys needed some help with their logo if they wanted to make it. Kraynak, who had spent hours the night before looking at all the tea logos at his local grocery store, pulled out a sheet of paper with 25 possible designs. Tiesta Tea has used Kraynak’s design ever since.
Liautaud wasn’t done lending his help. He promised the guys that if they could come in twice a week, they would have free access to the Jimmy Johns marketing team. Under Liautaud’s mentorship, Klein and Tannous revised their idea from a brick-and-mortar tea shop to selling their unique tea blends to grocery stores and distributors.
To survive in the market, the guys knew they needed to help inform people about the benefits of the tea they were brewing. The question their friends kept asking those months ago when they shared “Granny’s Garden” in their apartment was echoed by customers at Urbana’s famers market. With that in mind, the original five bold colors came to life, each representing a function of the type of tea—energizer, slenderizer, eternity, immunity, relaxer. The colorful metal can that housed their tea set them apart from all the other drab tea on the market as did their eye-catching names like Pomegranatopia, Blueberry Wild Child, and Maui Mango.
Liautaud’s mentorship afforded them the brand identity they would become known for. The money from the incubator, along with financial support from each of their fathers, bought their original custom-made tea cans, and the strength of their friendship ensured they would not quit.
Couch Surfing
Klein and Tannous moved to Chicago and started to make their tea dream a reality in their newly rented Wrigleyville house. Along with two friends who became part of the business, including current Chief Operating Officer Alex Sosnov (LAS ’11), and Tannous’ brother Rich, the growing team got to work reinventing the world of tea. As investors started partnering with Tiesta Tea, Klein and Tannous knew they had to focus on selling as much tea as possible. So, they went on the road.
In twenty days, Klein and Tannous couch surfed their way across the country and knocked on 500 doors. Tannous joked, “We would literally sell to anyone who had a door and a cash register.” That unrelenting grind paid off; by 2013 Tiesta Tea had a home in thousands of grocery stores and the success kept coming.
That success was largely because of their bold and unique flavors. The U.S. market was accustomed to tea bags, but Klein and Tannous’ stubborn idea of only selling loose-leaf tea paid off immensely. The difference of Tiesta Tea showed from the first can made. They were like no one else at the time. The side panels allowed customers to see that their tea was much more than just dried leaves. The tidal wave of aroma was instant when the customer cracked open the golden latch on the front of the can. The ingredients Tannous and Klein could incorporate with loose-leaf, including real dried fruit, opened doors to new flavor combinations that just weren’t possible in a tea bag.
Dan and Patrick haven’t stopped pushing the flavor envelope. They continue to tweak and update current flavors while also masterminding new blends to bring their customers the best tasting most affordable tea they can. The ingredients that make their rich flavors hail from forty countries across the globe. The pair makes an annual trip to Germany where they meet with their overseas partners. Hundreds of sips are taken as they fine-tune the blends.
In the numbers
The successes of Tiesta Tea are marked by far more than the eight-figure annual revenue the company earns. As their business grew, so did their desire to give back. Chicago winters can be brutal—the lake brings winds and snow that chills to the bone. Tannous went to Klein with an idea, and in January 2016 they held the first “Spread the Warmth” event. Tannous, Klein, and their team handed out hot cups of tea and warmth kits to people at homeless shelters and those living on the streets near them.
The big heartedness of the guys finds its roots all the way back to when they were in high school. When a massive tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004, Klein was devastated by the news. Silicone wristbands were popular at the time, so Klein thought he could make a small impact by selling them at his high school and donating the money. Once he had the wristbands, who did he call to help him? His best friend of course. What started as a goal to raise maybe a thousand dollars turned into the Klein family and Tannous raising hundreds of thousands.
Klein and Tannous have always seen their impact as most important. The numbers more dear to their hearts than sales are the 4,000 Warmth Kits and 5,500 cups of hot tea they’ve shared over the years. They’ve built three water wells in Nigeria where they source their hibiscus. Their pride lies in the numerous University of Illinois graduates who they’ve hired, some who started as interns and remain at the business today including Sean Litza (ACES ’12) their Director of National Accounts and Katie Roscher (MEDIA ’21) their Marketing Manager. The most notable achievement of Tiesta Tea, however, is their steadfast, 30-plus-years of friendship.
At the Heart of It
Today, walking into the Tiesta Tea headquarters, the hearts and minds of these two guys on are full display. Their River North offices are located in a weathered brick building, like so many in the Chicago landscape. Stepping off the elevator, light floods the hallway. The spicy, fruity smell is the first clue of what’s brewing behind the gleaming glass door. The warm rustic hardwood floors of the office contrast the masonry encasing the room. The story of their journey adorns the industrial walls including the original drawing of their logo by Kraynak along with numerous framed Chicago newspaper articles celebrating their hard work. Orange and blue Block I statues are found on office desks throughout the space.
When Klein speaks about Tannous, he shares stories about his desire to change the world. When Tannous talks about Klein, he says, “That guy never gave up on me.” The warmth that emanates from their Chicago headquarters is not just from the tea—these two guys genuinely care about each other and have built a thriving business on that trust. When they invite guests into their office, their love of their work and appreciation of how they’ve gotten there is evident. They’ve never taken shortcuts in how they run their business or how they care for others. They prove each day you can do business with your friend and have had a heck of a time doing it.
This story was published .
