Eli Tea Bar
Eli Tea Bar, founded in 2013 by Elias Majid, operates two specialty tea cafés (Birmingham, MI and Chicago, IL) and a Shopify e-commerce store selling 90+ loose-leaf teas, bubble tea, kombucha on tap, matcha, and teaware to tea enthusiasts, students, and foodservice wholesale buyers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersBirmingham, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Eli Tea Bar does
Eli Tea Bar is a privately held specialty tea café and e-commerce retailer founded in 2013 by Elias Majid while he was a Nutrition & Food Science student at Wayne State University. The company operates two physical tea bars — a flagship at 108 S Old Woodward Ave in Birmingham, Michigan (serving 70+ loose-leaf varieties) and a second location at 5507 N Clark St in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood — and sells direct-to-consumer through a Shopify storefront with USPS domestic and select international shipping, plus mobile ordering via ToastTab and third-party delivery on Grubhub (Birmingham) and UberEats (Chicago).
The core product is a curated catalog of more than 90 loose-leaf teas and herbal infusions across Black, Green, Herbal, Oolong, Chai, White, and Matcha categories, complemented by bubble tea, kombucha on tap, tea lattes, and proprietary house blends such as Apple Ginger Spice, Mint Matcha, and Brulee Puerh. Sourcing is differentiated by a documented "earth, time, skill, user" philosophy and direct import of premium Japanese teas through a Michigan-Shiga Sister State partnership with Shiga Prefecture, alongside American-grown herbals from Colorado, Oregon, and Michigan. Revenue mechanics span retail beverage and merchandise sales (one-time unit pricing with tiered weight bands ranging roughly $10-$120 per pound of tea and $13-$40 for teaware), B2B wholesale supply to restaurants, hotels, and events, and lifestyle adjacencies including teaware, matcha bowl kits, hot chocolate mixes, incense, and apparel.
Customer segmentation is hybrid: primary tea enthusiasts and connoisseurs (students to specialty buyers), with secondary segments of social/community seekers (drawn by late-night programming at Chicago), health-conscious consumers, and foodservice/hospitality businesses purchasing wholesale. Marketing is grounded in Instagram (@eliteabar), a monthly email newsletter, recurring in-store events (Trivia Tuesdays, Art Meetup Thursdays, open mic, book clubs, tea tastings), and earned media coverage in Eater, The Guardian, Detroit Metro Times, HOUR Detroit, and Japanese outlets. Founder-owner Elias Majid retains direct operational control, and the business is a founding member of FoodLab Detroit, with no parent company, venture investment, or acquisitions disclosed.
Eli Tea Bar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Eli Tea Bar
- Legal name
- Eli Tea Bar
- Website
- https://eliteabar.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Eli Tea Bar, founded in 2013 by Elias Majid, operates two specialty tea cafés (Birmingham, MI and Chicago, IL) and a Shopify e-commerce store selling 90+ loose-leaf teas, bubble tea, kombucha on tap, matcha, and teaware to tea enthusiasts, students, and foodservice wholesale buyers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Eli Tea Bar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Tea Café and Retail
- NAICS
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Beverages (2080), Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Specialty Tea Shops (Loose-Leaf, Tea Bars) (THAFAKAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Tea (Leaf, Bagged, Instant, Concentrates) (CRADAHAE), Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI), Bubble Tea (Boba) Shops (THAFAKAC), Milk Tea & Flavored Tea Beverage Shops (Non-Boba) (THAFAKAI), Specialty Coffee Adjacent Beverage Bars (Chai, Cacao, Alternative Lattes) (THAFAKAH), Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Tea (CRADAHAD)
Keywords
Where Eli Tea Bar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birmingham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Eli Tea Bar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Retail Tea Products: Sale of loose leaf teas, tea blends, and tea accessories through e-commerce and in-store purchases. Products sold in various sizes from 2oz to full pounds with tiered pricing.
- In-Store Beverage Sales: On-site preparation and sale of hot tea, iced tea, tea lattes, bubble tea, and kombucha on tap. Over 100 tea varieties brewed to order.
- Wholesale/Restaurant Supply: Bulk tea sales to restaurants, hotels, and special events at discounted prices with customizable options. Target B2B customers include foodservice establishments seeking quality tea programs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Loose leaf tea pricing by weight |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Teaware and accessories |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Matcha products |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Bundle/combo products |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Shipping rates |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
Eli Tea Bar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Eli Tea Bar operates specialty tea cafés in Birmingham, MI and Chicago, IL, selling over 100 loose leaf teas, house-blended chai, ceremonial matcha, bubble tea, kombucha on tap, and tea lattes for on-premise consumption and takeaway. The company also runs an e-commerce storefront shipping teas, teaware, apparel, and accessories, and supplies bulk tea wholesale to restaurants, hotels, and events.
Product overview
Eli Tea Bar is a modern tea café and specialty shop operating flagship stores in Birmingham, MI and Chicago, IL. The company offers over 90 types of loose leaf teas and herbal infusions sourced from around the world, featuring core products across tea categories (Black, Green, Herbal, Oolong, Chai, White, Matcha) alongside bubble tea, kombucha on tap, and tea-based medicinal apothecaries. The product portfolio includes tea samplers and bundles (3 Tea Sampler, 3 Chai Combo), hot chocolate mixes, teaware accessories, apparel, and specialty items like incense. Tea is sold in-store, online via their Shopify e-commerce platform, and through delivery integrations with Toast Tab, Grubhub, and Uber Eats.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Loose Leaf Tea Collection Loose leaf teas across categories (Black, Green, Herbal, Oolong, Chai, White, Matcha, American-grown) sourced globally and from U.S. growers, sold by weight in sizes from 2oz to full pounds for at-home brewing by individual consumers.
- Ceremonial-Grade Matcha Stone-ground Japanese ceremonial-grade matcha including Maruyasu, Hika, and Hon-Ai varieties, plus flavored matchas such as Mint Matcha, for traditional preparation and modern beverage use by tea enthusiasts.
- Bubble Tea Handcrafted bubble tea made from fresh milk, boiled Indian-style tea, and tapioca pearls, available with oat milk and coconut milk options, served in-café and via mobile pickup.
- Kombucha on Tap Raw kombucha brewed on premises and served on tap at both café locations for walk-in and mobile-order customers.
- Teaware and Accessories Tea brewing accessories including the EZ Brew Gravity Tea Pot ($29.99), Japanese Clay Kyusu teapots, Matcha Bowl Kit ($39.99), bamboo matcha whisks ($12.99), and decorative tea cups and saucers, sold to consumers for at-home preparation.
- Tea Sampler and Chai Combo Bundles Bundle offerings including the 3 Tea Sampler (Herbal, Green Tea, or Black Tea varieties, $15.99) and the 3 Chai Combo (Rooibos, Indian, and Thai Chai in quarter-pound tins, $49.99), sold as discounted bundles to individual consumers.
- Hot Chocolate Powder Mix Natural hot chocolate mixes in Classic, Smoked, and Lavender varieties, packaged in 14oz glass jars for at-home preparation by individual consumers.
- Branded Apparel Branded clothing items including the Rainbow Pom Pom Winter Hat with 6-color embroidery, sold online through the Shopify storefront.
- Medicinal Brews and Tea Apothecaries Tea-based homeopathic blends and functional supplements created using evidence-based medicine and peer-reviewed scientific studies, marketed to health-conscious consumers seeking functional herbal teas.
- Incense Various incense sticks sourced from around the world, including Fragrance Memories and Japonism Scent Discovery, sold as complementary lifestyle merchandise alongside tea products.
- Wholesale Tea Supply Bulk tea sales to restaurants, hotels, and special events at discounted prices with customizable options and tea tasting sessions, targeted at foodservice establishments seeking quality tea programs with ethical sourcing.
- In-Café Beverage Service and Mobile Ordering On-site preparation and service of over 100 hot, iced, and specialty tea beverages, tea lattes, bubble tea, and kombucha at both café locations, with ToastTab mobile ordering available for in-store pickup.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 50 types of tea and herbal infusions offered
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Eli Tea Bar
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Eli Tea Bar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature2 records
Eli Tea Bar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Shiga Prefectural Government (Michigan-Shiga Sister State Program)corePartnership through the Michigan-Shiga Sister State Program to establish new channels of tea sourcing from Shiga prefecture, Japan. Owner Elias Majid visited in May 2018 to learn from Japanese tea farmers about their process, distribution, and care-taking of various types of tea. The partnership enables direct import of premium Japanese teas including Matcha from Shiga. Featured in two Japanese publications (Chunichi and Kyoto) in September 2018.
- FoodLab DetroitcoreEli Tea is a founding member of FoodLab Detroit, committed to bettering bottom lines of people, planet, and profit as the company grows. FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs in Detroit.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Eli Tea Bar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Verdant Tea: Direct-trade loose-leaf tea company with strong farmer-relationship sourcing and DTC e-commerce. Comparable to Eli Tea's ethical sourcing and Shiga-style direct farmer partnerships.
- Tea Spot: Specialty tea company with loose-leaf retail, handcrafted whole-leaf teas, and a wholesale foodservice program. Directly comparable to Eli Tea's three-channel model at slightly larger scale.
Broad incumbents
- Teavana (Starbucks): Premium tea brand owned by Starbucks, offering loose-leaf and RTD tea across Starbucks retail locations. Competes in specialty loose-leaf retail and café-anchored tea consumption.
- Kung Fu Tea: Large bubble tea chain with multi-unit retail locations. Comparable to Eli Tea's bubble tea offering but at much larger scale and with different positioning (mass-market vs. specialty).
Direct peers
- Argo Tea: Specialty tea café chain founded in Chicago serving loose-leaf teas, chai, tea lattes, and bubble tea with packaged retail goods. Closest Midwest geographic and format peer to Eli Tea's Chicago location.
- Steven Smith Teamaker: Craft tea company selling premium loose-leaf teas through DTC, foodservice wholesale, and select retail. Similar premium positioning and small-batch/blend ethos to Eli Tea.
- DAVIDsTEA: Specialty loose-leaf tea retailer operating its own e-commerce store and a multi-unit café/retail footprint across North America. Closely comparable to Eli Tea's DTC + physical store + wholesale model, but at meaningfully larger scale.
- Republic of Tea: Specialty tea brand selling loose-leaf and bagged teas via DTC, wholesale, and foodservice channels. Comparable product mix (black, green, herbal, chai) and direct ethical-sourcing positioning.
- Adagio Teas: Online specialty loose-leaf tea retailer with broad SKU depth and a customizable blending program. Directly comparable to Eli Tea's e-commerce channel and 100+ SKU philosophy.
- Harney & Sons: Premium loose-leaf tea company with its own retail tea rooms, wholesale hospitality channel, and direct-to-consumer e-commerce. Comparable to Eli Tea across all three revenue streams and in positioning on premium/specialty loose-leaf.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Eli Tea Bar social profiles
Digital presenceEli Tea Bar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Eli Tea Bar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Eli Tea Bar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Eli Tea Bar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Eli Tea Bar
What does Eli Tea Bar do?
Eli Tea Bar operates specialty tea cafés in Birmingham, MI and Chicago, IL, selling over 100 loose leaf teas, house-blended chai, ceremonial matcha, bubble tea, kombucha on tap, and tea lattes for on-premise consumption and takeaway. The company also runs an e-commerce storefront shipping teas, teaware, apparel, and accessories, and supplies bulk tea wholesale to restaurants, hotels, and events.
Is Eli Tea Bar a public or private company?
Eli Tea Bar is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Eli Tea Bar founded?
Eli Tea Bar was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Eli Tea Bar based?
Eli Tea Bar is headquartered in Birmingham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Eli Tea Bar make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Retail Tea Products are the primary driver. The others are in-Store Beverage Sales and wholesale/Restaurant Supply.
Who are Eli Tea Bar's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Verdant Tea and Tea Spot. Broad incumbents are Teavana (Starbucks) and Kung Fu Tea. Direct peers are Argo Tea, Steven Smith Teamaker, DAVIDsTEA, Republic of Tea, Adagio Teas and Harney & Sons.
Does Eli Tea Bar have an API?
No public API is recorded for Eli Tea Bar.
What industry is Eli Tea Bar in?
Eli Tea Bar's product category is Specialty Tea Café and Retail. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFAKAD, Specialty Tea Shops (Loose-Leaf, Tea Bars), with a secondary code of CRADAHAE, Tea (Leaf, Bagged, Instant, Concentrates). Its NAICS code is 722515 and its SIC code is 5810.