CSU Student Takes Break To Open Up Tea Shop on Broadway

For Toshiro Lyn, a typical day starts with waking up, eating cornflakes, and watching a History Channel documentary before his tea shop opens at 7 a.m. He sets up shop, sells tea, and passes out business cards. After working for up to 20 hours to ensure the success of his business, he goes to bed so he can wake up to do it all again.

Before his most recent endeavor as the owner of a tea bar and studio, Toshiro was a student at CSU. The entrepreneur from West Point, Ga. was initially a biology major who, after a few semesters, switched majors and began studying computer science. One of the many sacrifices that Toshiro made to start his business was putting a hold on his college education—he has taken an educational hiatus for the last two semesters.

Toshiro decided to open up Te Amo because he noticed that nothing like it existed yet in Columbus. “I can be creative and do whatever I want with it,” Toshiro said. “It’s not like coffee where pretty much everything has been done.” Toshiro says that his tea shop was a good idea for him because “it’s natural for me to be different.”

Te Amo is located between the new Frank T. Brown Hall and Subway and has been open since Nov. 19. The goal of Toshiro’s tea shop is to “appeal to the common people...people who are hardcore stuck on coffee.” He insists that if a person will try his tea a few times, they just might like it. His favorite tea he serves is called the masala chai, which comes with cream and sugar. Some other flavors include the Campfire Blend, Dragonwell Green, and Very Berry herbal tea.

In addition to the wide variety of tea available at Te Amo, he features reasonable prices and a discount for CSU students. If he could go back in time before he started Te Amo, Toshiro says he would remind himself to “save more money, and save more money,” to better prepare. Despite his busy schedule and heavy work load, Toshiro says he doesn’t feel fatigued. “I don’t really stress, I drink tea.” While being an entrepreneur with a young business is demanding, Toshiro says that he relishes his job because of the people he meets. “Friday morning I gave a card to a lady walking by, and she came back with her friend. And she came back the next day with her brother, sister, and dad,” Toshiro says.

For Toshiro success is “to be able to see myself doing something I’m proud of and to create a legacy.” Te Amo has a presence on Facebook and Instagram. He also runs www.loveteamo.com where you can order the tea he serves in his shop.