Heytea (https://www.heytea.com/), the originator of new-style tea with 40+ locations in the U.S., opened its first overseas teabar at 126 East 86th Street on New York’s Upper East Side on June 5. Built around a tea-centered store concept and heytea’s new product creation, Teamix, the teabar explores how tea can be expressed across different forms of drinks and desserts.Within the first hour of opening, more than 600 people were in line, stretching over 1,000 feet, or roughly three city blocks. The opening marks heytea’s latest chapter in New York following the debut of its Times Square heytea lab in early 2025, and reflects the brand’s continued commitment to new store formats, product innovation, and localized engagement in the U.S.
A teabar is a concept store that explores ways to experience tea through Teamix, brewed Pot Tea, Deep Matcha, Deep Chocolate, and tea ice cream. The New York teabar introduces 26+ products to the U.S. for the first time, with Teamix leading the menu as heytea’s new tea-forward product innovation. Built with the same intention found in a craft mocktail, Teamix starts with a carefully selected tea base, then layers fruit, botanicals, or milk to create structure, balance, and texture. Signature Teamix drinks include King Jasmine Guava Pear, made with heytea’s King Jasmine tea base, guava, and fresh-pressed crystal pear, and Mountain Oolong Yuzu Apple, which pairs Mountain Oolong with yuzu, fresh-pressed apple, and lemon leaf.
Beyond Teamix, the teabar menu also offers other forms of tea-centered products. Brewed Pot Tea presents a quieter expression of tea itself, prepared in a pour-over style and served in a warmed pot to highlight its clean, aromatic character. Deep Matcha uses Jingshan matcha from Hangzhou for a richer, more concentrated tea expression, while Deep Chocolate pairs high-intensity cacao with tea. The teabar will also introduce heytea’s tea ice creamto the U.S. for the first time.
“New York has always been one of heytea’s most important international markets because of how deeply people here engage with food, culture, and neighborhood life,” said Jelynn Jiang, the Overseas Senior Brand Manager at heytea. “Bringing our first overseas teabar to the Upper East Side felt natural. This is a neighborhood where people make time for museums, parks, and conversations. With teabar, our goal is to become part of the fabric by creating a space where people can stay a while with tea.”
As part of the opening, heytea has developed partnerships with nearby cultural and neighborhood institutions. Heytea served as the beverage sponsor of the Guggenheim Museum’s Young Collectors Council gala in May, connecting the brand with New York’s art and collector communities. Heytea is also partnering with Central Park Conservancy through collectible merchandise and beverage sponsorship for the annual Taste of Summer on June 3. As part of heytea’s effort to build authentic local connections, the brand is also collaborating with Levain Bakery on tea-inspired cookies.
The New York teabar opens as heytea continues to grow internationally, with more than 100 overseas locations and additional U.S. and international stores in the pipeline. But fast expansion is not heytea’s end game. What comes first is the brand’s commitment to quality, product innovation, and a lighthearted brand experience rooted in sharing daily inspiration through a cup of tea.
From June 5 to June 7, the teabar offered a buy-one-get-one-free opening promotion. For more information, please visit https://www.heytea.com/ or follow @heytea.usa on Instagram.
About heytea
Founded in 2012 in Jiangmen, Guangdong, China, heytea is the originator of new-style tea and is credited with creating the first cup of cheese tea, a now widely recognized tea drink that combines freshly brewed tea with a cheese cloud topping. New-style tea refers to a modern tea drink category of thoughtfully composed beverages made with high-quality tea, real milk, and fresh fruit, redefining traditional bubble tea and milk tea that are made with tea powders, artificial flavors, and creamers.
Today, heytea operates more than 3,500 stores across 330+ cities worldwide, including Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, and Seoul, with 150 million registered members globally. In the U.S., heytea now operates more than 40 stores across New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston, Seattle, Boston, and other markets.
Media Contact
Company Name: Heytea
Contact Person: Yinnan Shen
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Country: United States
Website: https://www.heytea.com/en
