A year after setting out to build drive-thru tea shops in Arizona, Revival Tea Co. founder Andrew Henry is steering his company in a new direction — toward the Midwest. The Spokane-based company plans to open its fourth location in Cincinnati, Ohio, by early 2026, the first store in a 12-store expansion in the region over the next four years. 

Henry anticipates opening one more store by the end of 2026, then moving into a steady rhythm of opening one new store per quarter.  

“We ended up zoning in on the Midwest as the place to launch Revival nationally,” Henry says. “You’ve got 65% of the U.S. population within a day’s drive of Cincinnati … and brick-and-mortar is the heart of our business, and it is alive and well over here.”  

As reported by the Journal last summer, Henry laid out a plan to become the "Starbucks of tea." Advisers from Dutch Bros and Starbucks, he says, encouraged him to expand into warm climate regions, such as Arizona, and build drive-thru locations that would help the company sell lots of iced tea. The idea was based on their companies' own experiences and business models in warmer locations, he explains, adding that he made plans to build the company’s fourth location in Arizona or Nevada in 2026. The company then would continue on a path to open 50 drive-thru locations over the next 10 years, starting from the West Coast and moving across the Central U.S. until reaching the East Coast region.

But shortly after those plans were made, Henry says he and his wife, Cerina Henry, who started the company with him from their home kitchen, realized that building out fast-casual style pit stops for a quick drink was not aligned with what they had originally set out to build.

The company’s identity is structured around an in-person, community-focused “third space,” he affirms.

“We thought we needed to open stores in Arizona because of the ice drinks and the drive-thrus,” he says. “We looked into it and realized that’s just not us. What we’ve done and what has worked is the brick-and-mortar experience, where you come in, you spend time. It’s a third space, not a drive-thru.”

Furthermore, the company is undergoing a brand refresh, staking a claim as “Revival American Tea Co.” The rebrand, Henry adds, aims to position the business to set the tone for American tea culture.

Revival Tea was started online in 2018 with a single blend: a freshly crafted spiced chai. Within the first 90 days, the company had shipped its chai tea to every U.S. state and 24 countries worldwide. Today, the company offers 35 blends and sources 120 ingredients from 15 countries.

In 2020, the Henrys opened their first store, an 1,800-square-foot tasting room located on the basement level at 415 W. Main, flanked by Durkin’s Liquor Bar and what is now Wiley’s Downtown Bistro. Its second location is directly above the tasting room in the former Sweet Peaks Ice Cream Shop and is a standalone outfit dubbed Phoenix Café, specializing in teas infused with boba, or tapioca pearls. Its most recent shop opened in 2023 in Coeur d’Alene, at 201 N. First, and features a tasting room similar to its flagship location.

Revival Tea has 25 employees at its three locations, in addition to a five-person board that includes Henry; Chip Overstreet, the former CEO of Spiceology Inc.; Kevin Parker, an early franchisee owner of the Grants Pass, Oregon-based Dutch Bros Coffee; Skye Henderson, vice president of venture investments for Spokane-based Cowles Ventures; and James Mackness, founder of Anacortes, Washington-based Motovotano LLC, which co-packs teas for Revival Tea. 

To finance the company’s growth in the Midwest, Revival Tea is raising $5 million to support the rollout of 12 new stores. Henry says the company launched a $2 million SAFE note in spring 2025, anchored by an early Starbucks investor, with plans to grow an additional $3 million to fund the full expansion.

The new campaign follows a community funding round in 2024, in which Revival Tea brought in nearly $590,000 from 330 investors — many of them loyal customers. That capital has helped the company transition from operating its own Spokane production facility to establishing a manufacturing partnership with Motovotano, and is supporting investments in operations that set the stage for its national push, Henry says. 

“This round is about getting us from a $5 million lifetime revenue brand to a $20 million annual company,” Henry says, adding the company doesn’t need all the capital upfront sitting in a bank, and will pursue the additional $3 million needed in stages.

Henry anticipates the company will be profitable again by the fourth quarter of 2025 for the first time in several years.

“In the food and beverage world, there has been a recipe out there for a long time of just: Raise a ton of money, do whatever you need to do to grow, don’t worry about being profitable, and eventually you’ll be acquired,” Henry explains. “That was never our mindset. During this whole transition, we wanted to make sure that moving forward, we are built in a sustainable way. … It’s been a big change from grow, grow, grow at all means necessary, to let’s grow responsibly.”

In August 2024, Henry, his wife, and their 3-year-old son packed into a van and hit the road. They spent months traveling the country, from Palm Springs to Texas, exploring where the future of Revival Tea might take root. The detour was as much personal as it was professional, Henry says. He and Cerina plan to stay in Cincinnati until their son graduates from high school, and Cerina is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing at the University of Cincinnati, aiming to become a nurse practitioner.

“Coming back to Spokane was definitely an option,” Henry says. “But it was clear to me that this brand that started in Spokane was ready for national exposure. But if you would have told me when we hit the road that a year later, we’d be in Cincinnati, I mean, that was not on our radar. That just came from attention and seeing where it took us.”

The Midwest and Spokane have a lot in common, he says. Southern California, where he spent several months earlier this year, as well as other large cities, has a faster pace of life. But in the Midwest, like in Spokane, time moves more slowly. That rate of motion is key to Revival’s ethos: slow brewing, community spaces, and authentic connections, Henry says.

Along the way, the family also experienced what Henry calls their own ‘revival.” For the first time, they’ve embraced faith, which has shaped the company’s philosophy of inclusivity and hospitality. Stickers on store doors now read, “All are welcome. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In step with that evolution, the company’s marketing has focused on “stillness,” a theme that Henry says pairs perfectly with tea itself.

“Tea takes time,” he says. “It takes patience. It takes five minutes to steep a cup of tea. That’s what our business is built around — helping people slow down.”