CUSA TEA: REVOLUTIONIZING INSTANT TEA

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Jim Lamancusa, founder of the world’s first premium instant tea brand Cusa Tea, wishes there was another adjective besides “instant” he could use to describe his craft.  “It doesn’t necessarily mean a bad thing,” he said. “You can have instant and have it taste amazing, too.”

Since the brand’s genesis, that’s been his #1 goal.

It all started on a backpacking trip in the Colorado Rockies.  While his friends enjoyed their convenient Starbucks Via instant coffee packets, Jim’s daily go-to, thanks to acid reflux, was a cup of tea.  “They had a decent cup of coffee, and here I was carrying around wet, soggy tea bags,” he joked.

On that trip, the Ziploc that was carrying said wet, soggy tea bags opened up, leaking tea juice all over his gear.  In this frustrating moment Jim professed, “why has nobody made the Starbucks Via, but for tea?!”

While Jim did have an extensive business background and a deep passion and unquenchable thirst for all things tea, he knew nothing about the current technologies used to make instant ‘anything’.  

He connected with a Boulder-based food science consultant company, and as luck would have it, the scientist revealed Starbucks had hired her to create their popular Via instant coffee sticks.  “I thought, oh my gosh, this is going to be a slam dunk.”

If only it was that easy.

Applying the same technology used to make instant coffee packets, Jim enlisted the food scientists to craft something similar, but with organic tea.  He described the thrill of receiving the finished product. “I was so excited, I put it in hot water, and within seconds, it all settled to the bottom of the cup…sludge,” Jim lamented.

Even after tweaking the size of the tea leaves, it never produced a clean cup of tea.  After two more failed attempts, Jim was feeling defeated and about ready to call it quits entirely.

“I’ve worked in enough startups to know you can have an innovative idea, but if the product doesn’t deliver on that promise, it’s a real uphill battle.”  

Fortunately, Jim found inspiration, though in a very unlikely place: his wife’s nightly rose-infused eye cream. Curious how rose petals get into a beauty product, he began learning everything he could about botanical extraction.  

As he found out, botanical extraction poses the same challenges Jim experienced with loose leaf tea. Hot or cold dehydration methods destroy the characteristics of the botanicals, in the same way they destroy the qualities of tea.  

With his enthusiasm reignited, Jim researched an alternative dehydration method which ultimately led him to Cold Steep Technology – a method of evaporative dehydration that retains the tea’s flavor, aroma, and antioxidants. Since only water is lost, the remaining crystallized tea powder is starving for moisture and dissolves immediately when mixed with hot or cold water.