How to open a tea room: Interview with Drink Me! Tea Room

Drink Me! Tea Room is a thriving modern tea room in Tempe, Arizona with whimsical Alice in Wonderland motifs and a clean, contemporary vibe. Upon first entering, tea room connoisseurs may instantly notice the absence of doilies, frills, and lacy tablecloths often found cluttering English tea rooms. But Drink Me! Tea Room’s fresh take on this posh tradition isn’t the only thing that sets it apart from other tea businesses. 

Melissa Harlan opened the doors to Drink Me! Tea Room at the start of the pandemic in July 2020. Countless sweets, savories, and teacups later, she’s running a thriving business with no shortage of quirky ideas to bring to the (tea) party. It’s won both Best New Restaurant in the 2021 Phoenix Magazine's Readers Poll, as well as Best Tea Shop in the Phoenix New Times Best of 2021 Reader's Poll.

In an interview with Melissa, she explained her journey from stepping away from a corporate career to opening and running a successful tea room.

It started with a sip of afternoon tea inspiration in London

Melissa Harlan, owner of Drink Me! Tea Room. Photo credit: Eric and Gizel Bahlman

Melissa has always been surrounded by tea. Growing up, her mom was never a coffee fan and so tea was always available at home and her go-to drink (never soda). In fact, while pregnant with her first child, iced black tea was her only craving. Although ever since opening Drink Me! Tea Room, she’s a bit more into hot tea these days.

While this love for tea has always been a common thread throughout her life, the real catalyst to start her own tea business came after having afternoon tea in London!

Learning the tea business through supportive communities

Coming from a very different corporate background, Melissa first found support and resources to start planning Drink Me! Tea Room through a variety of different channels and a lot of Googling (an entrepreneurial essential!) .

One of her greatest resources to learn about how to open a tea room was the World Tea Expo in 2019, a massive tea event with educational sessions, suppliers, and tons of networking opportunities. Another invaluable resource has been SCORE, an organization that connects striving entrepreneurs with volunteer small business mentors across the country. Melissa’s own coach has “been a tremendous help for questions and progress checks along the way.”

Perfecting a vegan and gluten-free menu of sweets, savories, and teas

When it came to planning the afternoon tea menu, Melissa already had a unique head-start by pulling inspiration from her own gluten-free and vegan diet. Before opening Drink Me! Tea Room, she had about 70% of all the recipes finalized. By tinkering in the kitchen at home, she’s established an ongoing recipe creation process, together with all the new goodies that her chef and kitchen team help concoct. 

With help of her son who has bartending experience, Melissa has been able to add deliciously crafted cocktails to the menu that use an in-house made tea syrup. Drink Me! Tea Room’s signature tea blends are the result of experimentation and careful planning to fit the overarching Alice in Wonderland theme or special event themes like Peter Pan-inspired “Literary Tea”.

But Melissa’s work creating delicious new blends is never done and in her words, “I would love to learn more about blending and creating delightful new teas.”

Navigating the challenges of a pandemic opening

The original plan was to open doors during the spring of 2020, but the global pandemic pushed that date into summer. With a food-based business that revolves around people enjoying tea in others’ company, the hope was that customers would feel comfortable enough for afternoon tea. With that incredibly large obstacle as a backdrop, there were a few other unexpected expenses like an AC replacement and flooding shortly after opening.

Today, the tea room faces a new kind of challenge, but mostly the kind any small business owner welcomes—keeping up with demand! With limited seating and kitchen space (where 95% of items are made from scratch), reservations are now required.

Solidifying a standout, modern brand 

Drink Me! Tea Room’s feel is almost a 180 from the tea rooms that take the quintessential British meal of afternoon tea very, very traditionally. And yet every decoration, teacup, and piece of furniture blends seamlessly together to create an entirely new cohesive brand and experience. 

Melissa describes the brand as “a mix of modern and whimsical as opposed to a feminine or masculine style,” which appeals to a more diverse audience rather than primarily just women. Using the literary black and white version of Alice in Wonderland as the base palette, she weaves in purple and green elements, as seen in the logo and hedge wall.

Another, perhaps more subtle, side of Drink Me! Tea Room’s brand is the focus on eco-friendly packaging that more astute observers will notice in the paper straws and compostable to-go boxes. 

This mindfulness goes hand-in-hand with the vegan and gluten free menu, which also adds a modernized touch to the traditional afternoon tea menu. Facing personal challenges to find that dietary combination when eating out, Melissa wanted to create a tea room where anyone with or without food allergies and dietary preferences could unwind and enjoy. Of course, an added bonus has been gaining popularity among local vegan groups!

Establishing a diverse customer base through branding and social media

And on the topic of customers, it’s worth mentioning that Drink Me! Tea Room has attracted a well-rounded audience of all ages, genders, and preferences. Everyone from the tea connoisseur to first time tea drinkers come in to take in the adorable aesthetic (done by design for social media sharing), delicious treats, and of course, tea. Thanks in part to a strong brand and that sparkly unicorn effect, social media has been invaluable in helping spread word of mouth to just about everyone.

In fact, social media has been the only form of marketing done for the tea room and typically how new customers discover it. Drink Me! Tea Room is active on Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business, with a newly hired social media manager to continue nurturing their online presence.

Customer-turned-fans are also instrumental in spreading the word with their own friends and family. That’s how a TikTok video by a local Phoenix customer went viral and launched Drink Me! Tea Room’s popularity to new heights, driving a 500% spike in website traffic the day after it went live and forcing bookings 3-4 weeks out.

What the future looks like for Drink Me! Tea Room

It’s been about a year and a half since opening doors and Drink Me! Tea Room has already made quite the splash. Looking to the future, Melissa has a long list of creative new ideas to bring into the tea room. One area of growth is the online tea store, in addition to adding branded merchandise. Selling their in-house made tea based cocktail mixers is another goal on the horizon.

And while Alice in Wonderland is very much the beloved cornerstone of their afternoon tea service, other monthly themed teas have been quite successful and show no signs of slowing down.

When it comes to the question of opening further locations, Melissa thinks that’s still a ways away but definitely a long-term possibility!

For anyone interested in opening a tea room, she offered some final nuggets of wisdom:

“It's a tremendous learning experience, but it's completely worth it. Connecting with guests, making new friends and seeing guests enjoying time with their favorite people is so rewarding.

I will say that it takes tenacity and a very positive attitude. There are mountains of dishes every day, but it's worth the joy. Every small business has challenges and a tea room is no different. However, it's such a great place for people to gather and celebrate. The world needs more of that!”

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Learn more about Drink Me! Tea Room: 

Website: drinkmetearoom.com 

Instagram: instagram.com/drinkmetearoom 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/drinkmetearoom

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