EARLY – A groundbreaking ceremony was held for H Tea O, which will offer 24 flavors of sweet and unsweetened teas later this year. The business, located at 405 Early Blvd., has roots in Amarillo and has gradually expanded over the last decade-plus.

Hayden Hutchens, co-owner along with Jason Manning, shared the history of H Tea O during Friday’s press conference.

“H Tea O started when I was a freshman or sophomore in high school,” Hutchens said. “My mom and dad still own a hamburger restaurant in Amarillo called Buns over Texas. Burger sales were down in ’08 and ’09 with the market and the way things were going so they were looking for ways to increase sales. My dad had this crazy idea to add some extra beverages, so he added I believe four or six flavors of iced tea, launched that and it was a success. People would actually come and buy the tea and not get food.”

The success of the tea led the Hutchens family to re-examine its business model.

“My dad was currently developing a new building for his restaurant when he (added the teas),” Hutchens said. “He took a third of what was going to be the restaurant and made it a co-tenancy, gave it a front door and called it Texas Tea. That was the first name, and that store is still standing today. In 2009 I was the general manager when we launched with 18 flavors of tea. Sales started slow at the beginning because we were brand new, but it didn’t take long. After a few months we were on the map.”

In 2014, a second Texas Tea location opened in Amarillo, and in 2018 the decision to branch out under the name H Tea O became a reality.

“It’s the same tea and product as Texas Tea, and there’s now currently 37 stores total,” Hutchens said. “Four of those are corporately owned and the rest are franchises. There are around 300 stores all around the country under development.”

Larry McConn, City of Early Director of Economic Development, said, “We began working with this group of developers in September of 2020 to bring this quick service restaurant brand to our market. What we do is when we identify corporate brands that are a fit for our market, we begin looking for franchises that are willing to invest in the community.”

Tony Aaron, City of Early Administrator, added, “We started seeing H Tea O popping up at trade shows a couple of years ago. They were very energetic; you could tell they wanted their company to grow. They had these poker chips and every time I saw one in their booth I went and talked to them and grabbed a poker chip, and I said we want you guys in Early, and they chose Early. These guys have opportunities in markets all over the state and for them to take their time, their money and invest in this community, it means a lot to us.”

As for the teas themselves, Hutchens said, “All of our sweet teas we make with pure cane sugar. All of our unsweet teas are just straight brewed, broad leaf tea. We don’t add any flavor squirts or anything after the fact. It’s all infused with the tea leaves.”

Hutchens also elaborated on other offerings from H Tea O.

“We’ll have some lemonade options,” Hutches said. “We have one pink lemonade, and we also have a Ryan Palmer, which is our version of the Arnold Palmer. We take our sweet tea and mix it with our yellow lemonade. We’ll also have chips, beef jerky, just some filler stuff for people if they come in the store and they’re hungry, but we don’t cook anything. It’s all pre-packaged.”

H Tea O will also sell Yeti and Pelicans products, including coolers and cups.

Robert Mangrum, Mayor of Early, said, “This is a red-letter day for Early as we welcome this new business. We embrace the new development and another milestone in the history of the city. We truly are building on those that came before us. Only Early can now say we’ve cornered the market on both iced tea and coffee in Brown County.”

Hutchens hopes the 2,400-square foot facility is open in “four to five months.”

For more information, visit the H Tea O website at the following link: Home | HTeaO