Toshiro Lyn brews up flavorful teas at his ‘studio’ on Broadway

Coffee consumption may get much of the buzz in the beverage world today, but Toshiro Lyn is here to tell you that there’s nothing like a pleasant cup of tea in the morning, during lunch, around mid-afternoon or perhaps in the evening, if decaffeinated.

Of course, Lyn, 26, might be at least a bit biased considering he brews tea for a living at his establishment, Te Amo Tea, at 1123-B Broadway in downtown Columbus. For those who haven’t noticed the shop, that’s no surprise. The “studio,” as the West Point, Ga., native calls his place, is tucked beside and just behind a portion of the Subway deli. Miss the doorway and you miss Te Amo Tea.

But Lyn, who previously operated a tea shop on Twelfth Street before making the move to Broadway last year, quietly is gaining a following as he mixes up various flavors of teas from the 50 varieties he has on hand at the store at any given time. He also hopes to open a second location in Auburn, Ala., later this year if the financial resources materialize.

From a statistical standpoint, Te Amo Tea, which is Spanish for “I love you tea,” is part of a robust tea-drinking industry serving the American public. The Tea Association of the U.S.A., on its website, says tea can be found in nearly 8 of 10 households and that more than 158 million Americans partake in a cup or three every day.

The Ledger-Enquirer visited with Lyn recently to discuss his job, what it takes to make a great cup of tea, and what he enjoys most about his work and business. This interview is edited a bit for length and clarity.

Q. So this place, being tucked away, how do people find you?

A. Word of mouth, popping in, some promotions and handing out cards. That’s pretty much how it’s been spreading.

Q. How did you come up with the name?

A. It came to me one day when I was riding to work. I saw it on the back of a car, ‘te amo,’ and I knew some Spanish and realized it was “I love you.” But looking at it, it just looked like (the word) tea. And it’s kind of passionate, and I’m a passionate guy. I thought, that’s the name of the place. I love it.

Q. How did you get into this?

A. I was really kind of dissatisfied with where coffee and energy drinks were taking me, and my friends introduced me to tea. We went to this tea shop in (Greenville) South Carolina. Immediately, I was interested in it. I thought, this is fascinating. I started getting into it and seeing what I could do, and I’m pretty much where I’m at now.

Q. How long ago was that tea experience?

A. It was the fall of 2014. I took the spring semester of 2015 off from school (CSU) and started researching it and getting into it. I opened my first store on Twelfth Street in an old office building. That was around the winter of 2016. I did a lot of vending events from there and was going around and setting up my equipment and selling teas.

Q. Vending events?

A. Selling to people at events. The last one I did was in June 2016. It was at the Columbus Botanical Gardens. It’s real beautiful, and the flowers are amazing.

Q. What types of tea do you sell?

A. I do a lot of stuff here that is more experimental. I do traditional stuff as well. When I prepare my tea, I use retrofitted coffeemakers that I invented, rather than using a kettle or pouring hot water over it. ... I appeal my tea to people who are really not that familiar with it. Tea culture is really old in the United States. It dates back to the Colonial times. But we’re definitely a coffee-centered culture. I was a huge fan. I drank it since I was 8.

Q. How did you perfect what you serve customers?

A. When I was looking at making tea and opening up a store, I was like, man, how can I get the consistency going and make it quick enough where people wouldn’t be waiting 5, 6 or 7 minutes for a cup of tea? Just get it done. I wanted to take the guess work out of it, because when you’re steeping tea bags or you’re dealing with loose-leaf tea and just trying to pour hot water over it, you’ve got to get the temperature right. You gotta get the time right and that kind of stuff. So I was looking at it and decided to make this tea-maker thing, which is a retrofitted coffee maker and it works wonderful. People haven’t had any complaints with it. It brews perfect every time.

Q. Where do you get your ingredients?

A. I buy them mostly from an organic company based out of Nevada. They import their teas from the tea-growing regions — India, Sri Lanka and China and places like that.

Q. What’s the most challenging aspect of your job and getting tea just right?

A. Sometimes a lot of people will come in and that can be a little challenging. It takes about three minutes to brew a cup, and about 4 minutes total. But somebody might come in and be impatient, when I like to spend a lot of personal time with the customer. It’s real easy if they know what they want already. But sometimes you’ve got to let them smell it and let them taste a sample or two to see how it is.

Q. Is Columbus a community that knows its teas, or do you have to educate people?

A. It’s a little of both, because you’ve got a lot of out-of-towners — the military and people here for school. So you’ve got people like that who have been introduced to tea already. And then you’ve got a few that haven’t.

Q. Is there a right time to drink tea?

A. For me, it’s suited for all day. Of course, we’re in Georgia and you can get it iced as well (with lots of sugar). You can drink it in the morning, in the evening, at night decaffeinated. It’s just a perfect all-day drink to me if you don’t want to drink water.

Q. What’s your favorite tea drink?

A. I love the chai copa crema, which is kind of like a chai latte, except that I don’t steam it with cream. I just add cream directly to it. That’s pretty much one of my favorites to make. I like to experiment with them. It’s crazy how tea pairs with things. You can do fruity teas and savory teas.

Q. How many types of teas do you serve?

A. I have 50 different types of teas on hand. I can probably off the top of my head make up 20 or 30. You just swap something out here and here. Once you know what goes well with what, it’s real easy.

Q. Why did you choose this rather than something else?

A. I already have a good job. I work for Walmart logistics (distribution center) in Opelika. It’s hard work but it pays well, and it helps with this place, too. With this, I’m taking my own direction and get to be creative use my talents that I couldn’t use anywhere else.

Q. This fulfills you creatively?

A. Yeah.

Q. It sounds like you’re an entrepreneur?

A. I do have an entrepreneurial mind. I just like to be creative. And I like to meet new people and talk to them. Of course, money floats the business, but I’m not really big into making money ... Just talking with people everyday is one of the joys of the business.

Q. I see you can order online and pick up tea just outside your door?

A. Yes. Now I open at 7 in the morning, and on my website you can order drinks from the menu online and have it delivered to you curbside, without having to try to find parking. You can do it anytime of the day when traffic is kind of bad. It just gives people that option. It helps make tea readily available.

Q. I saw your menu has sweet potato, or batata, items to eat? Is that a snack or dessert?

A. Sweet potatoes can go both ways, sweet or savory. You can eat it for lunch, for breakfast, or as a snack. Sweet potatoes are very nutritious and can fill you up quick. But I had a clause in my (lease) contract that I couldn’t serve sandwiches because of Subway.

Q. Finally, tea can be for the healthy crowd?

A. Absolutely. I’m not trying to bash any coffee places, but it has less sugar, less caffeine, less calories than a traditional coffee drink. A lot of people come in and say they just drink coffee for the caffeine. I did like drinking coffee. But with tea, it’s just different. I can drink a cup in the morning, a cup in the afternoon, late in the evening, and still come out with less caffeine than just one cup of coffee in the morning.

This story was originally published January 28, 2017 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Toshiro Lyn brews up flavorful teas at his ‘studio’ on Broadway."