In Honor of National Iced Tea Day 2025, A Look at Unique Offerings from Tea Franchise Concepts
On a hot summer day — or any day — there’s nothing as sweet or refreshing as iced tea! Teas of all kinds have become increasingly popular in recent years — especially among the younger crowd. Millennials and Gen-Zers drink everything from boba and matcha to infusions and iced tea. There is also a geographical component to the love of tea — the South has a particular proclivity to iced tea due to the region’s inclemently hot weather. Iced tea has become so beloved that it has its own day on June 10: National Iced Tea Day.
For beverage franchises — or any franchise with a strong beverage lineup — iced tea’s popularity is more than just a trend; it’s a smart business opportunity. Beverages have higher profit margins than food, making them an attractive option for entrepreneurs. With consumer demand high and profit potential strong, it’s no wonder franchised brands are getting increasingly creative with their iced tea offerings.
In honor of National Iced Tea Day, here’s a roundup of some of the most refreshing and inventive iced tea drinks from top beverage franchises.
The Hottest Iced Tea Drinks from Top Beverage Franchises
Gonga cha
Gong cha, which means “tribute tea,” started in Taiwan in 2006 and has grown into one of the world’s most popular bubble tea brands. Known for high-quality ingredients and fresh flavors, Gong cha serves tea lovers of all kinds — from those who enjoy classic green teas to those who love fun, colorful bubble teas. With a menu full of traditional brews, creamy lattes and fruit-filled drinks, Gong cha has something for everyone, making it the perfect spot to celebrate National Iced Tea Day — or any day!
Happy Lemon USA
Happy Lemon USA is on a mission to modernize tea drinking culture. The innovative beverage franchise goes beyond just iced tea. Alongside classics like freshly squeezed lemon green tea, black tea and green tea, unique offerings include the boba milk tea with pudding and jelly, taro milk tea with boba, Jasmine green tea with salted cheese, matcha latte, passion fruit green tea (above) and redbean pudding matcha latte. With a wide range of flavors and textures, there is truly something for everyone!
HTeaO
The HTeaO beverage franchise is known for its Southern-style iced tea. The Texas-based brand has a menu filled with sweetened and unsweetened teas, including root beer tea, sweet almond tea, sweet blueberry green, sweet Georgia peach, unsweet mint unsweet peach ginger and refreshers (above) that come in flavors such as cherry peach tea lemonade and the Razzler.
Kung Fu Tea
The Kung Fu Tea beverage franchise has a varied menu that could make any tea drinker smile. Its milk strike drink series pairs signature Kung Fu Tea flavors with WOW Bubbles and lactose-free lactaid milk for a rich, creamy treat. Its milk tea beverages, made of freshly brewed tea and milk powder, come in unique flavors like coconut and winter melon. The brand’s classic line of iced tea beverages — Kung Fu green tea, Longan Jujube (red date) tea and Honey Oolong tea – are perfect choices for celebrating National Tea Day.
Kyo Matcha
In addition to its signature matcha offerings, the Kyo Matcha franchise features an entire section of its menu dedicated to tea lovers. Guests can enjoy refreshing options like mango green tea and passion fruit green tea, or indulge in richer flavors such as Kyoto milk tea and roasted Hojicha. For a truly unique experience, the Kyoto Brûlée milk tea combines creamy milk tea with a caramelized brûlée topping, blending tradition with a modern twist.
McAlister’s Deli
McAlister’s Deli has several iced tea items on its menu, including peach mango tea and its signature Famous Tea. McAlister’s Famous Tea is Rainforest Alliance Certified and made fresh with orange pekoe black tea leaves. When customers purchase a tea pass, they can enjoy a tea of their choice every day for 30 consecutive days. This purchase of the tea pass includes the first tea on a current order. The brand is also celebrating National Tea Day by giving its loyalty 500 points on any size tea purchase at participating locations.
NobiliTea
NobiliTea’s mission is to quench thirst, spread joy and promote healthy communities. The brand serves a wide variety of tea beverages, as well as lemonade, organic tea and pastries. For example, Morning Glory is a mixed berry and lime electric lemonade, and Royal Palmer is fresh steeped black tea with lemonade. Many of its products contain natural caffeine, and items that incorporate its VelociTea energy flavors contain additional caffeine.
Presotea
Presotea originated in Taiwan and has utilized five generations of experience and expertise from a well-known tea factory to offer quality fresh tea drinks. Its milk tea collection blends fresh, flavorful teas with artisanal infusions. Examples include the Jasmine milk tea and champagne milk tea. The fresh tea series consists of beverages made with fresh fruits, herbs and spices. Its most unique menu items are found in the gourmet bubble waffle series, which includes black pearl waffle, plain waffle and strawberry waffle.
Sharetea
Sharetea’s drinks menu categories include milk tea, fruit tea, ice blended and mojito. The beverage franchise’s tea menu offers toppings such as pearls, pudding, aloe vera, lychee jelly, creama, and many more to add different textures and flavors. Options include Thai pearl milk aea, taro pearl milk tea, honey lemonade, mango and passion fruit tea, Taro ice blended with pudding, Oreo ice blended with pearl, coffee ice blended with ice cream and non-caffeinated tiger boba.
Starbucks
Starbucks is royalty in the beverage industry. Tea lovers are right at home with the brand’s variety of iced tea, iced tea latte and tea frappuccino options.
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea is known for serving Asian-inspired teas and coffees. Its signature teas include chai, ginger lemon tea, imperial milk tea, iced tea and iced tea lemonade. The beverage franchise also has premium teas including Earl Grey, winter blossom and Greek mint, and coffees such as cappuccinos, lattes and espressos. To keep refreshed on hot summer days, there are also shakes and other frozen drinks available.
Tea2Go TeaN’ergy
Tea2Go TeaN’ergy was founded on a vision of bringing the health benefits and flavors of loose-leaf tea from all around the world to everyday people. For example, its white tea is virtually caffeine-free and helps boost the immune system, and green tea lowers cholesterol and promotes healthy weight loss.
Highlights from the beverage franchise’s specialty drink menu include Rocking Ruby Raspberry (a fruity passion fruit and raspberry green tea), Peach Blossom (a peach oolong tea) and matcha latte. Its line of energy drinks, which include the Wonder Tea, Pink Flamingo and Gamma Radiation, provide customers with both refreshment and an added boost to help them get through the day.
TeaCupFuls
The TeaCupFuls beverage franchise stands out with its authentic boba tea that can be topped with specialty items such as cotton candy, Pocky sticks, suckers, sea salt foam, mints and more. Menu favorites include mango green tea, raspberry butterfly tea and vanilla black tea with boba.
