Smashburger, the expanding better burger concept, announced it will be the first national restaurant chain to roll out Honest Tea’s iced tea options at all restaurants nationwide. Honest Tea is a top-selling organic bottled tea company. Each Smashburger location will brew a selection of iced tea options, all made from organic ingredients, including Classic Green Tea, Just Iced Tea, Lemon Herbal Tea, and Naturally Flavored Raspberry Tea.
“Smashburger and Honest Tea share a passion for providing guests with fresh-tasting, high caliber products, so the partnership was a natural fit for us. We are excited for the opportunity to be the first national restaurant to serve their fresh brewed teas to guests in all of our restaurants across the country,” says Tom Ryan, founder and chief concept officer of Smashburger. “There are many synergies between our two brands, but first and foremost is our commitment to serving food and beverages that our guests can feel good about, comprised of quality ingredients for a better dining experience.”
Smashburger has long focused on offering premium beverages, serving craft beer and craft sodas at its locations nationwide.
“The trend toward non-carbonated beverages in particular is continuing to grow and has been the strongest area of growth in our beverage business recently,” Ryan says. “The addition of Honest Tea’s freshly brewed iced tea platform fits in well with this growing consumer demand.”
Each of the new Honest Tea offerings at Smashburger are certified organic, kosher, and gluten-free, do not contain any genetically modified organisms, use Fair Trade Certified tea leaves, and contain 50 calories or less per eight-ounce serving. Smashburger locations nationwide will serve a selection of four varieties based on regional consumer preferences, including Classic Green Tea that is just a tad sweet thanks to organic cane sugar; Just Iced Tea, unsweetened black tea sourced from tea gardens in the Assam region of India; Lemon Herbal Tea, a caffeine-free tea blend of organic Indian tulsi (also known as Holy Basil), lemongrass, lemon peel, and lemon myrtle combined to create a mildly spicy, yet calming taste; and Raspberry Tea, black tea sourced from the Korakundah tea gardens in southern India combined with natural raspberry flavors and organic cane sugar.
“We are thrilled to have Smashburger as our first national partner for our freshly brewed organic iced teas,” says Honest Tea’s co-founder Seth Goldman. “Both companies view high-quality ingredients as an integral part of the tasting experience, and we look forward to serving our freshly brewed iced teas alongside Smashburger’s great menu offerings.”
