Does HTeaO have nugget ice?

What we found

• A community report (October 7, 2026) says every HTeaO location has nugget ice. That report is why HTeaO is listed as chain-wide rather than only widely reported. It is not a statement from HTeaO.
• Aliworld, the Ali Group magazine (Ali Group owns ice-machine maker Scotsman), ran a feature on HTeaO in its January 2022 issue. It says "Dependable Scotsman ice machines create the nugget ice that HTeaO customers love, both in their drinks and bagged to go," and that "Scotsman ice machines have been in all Texas Tea and HTeaO stores since the very beginning" (Texas Tea was HTeaO's original name). It quotes HTeaO's Curt Pohlmeier, Vice President of Project Development: "Ice is so important to our brand. I like to think of it as the big three: tea, water and ice," and CEO Justin Howe on Scotsman machines: "They're the best… We've had locations where, when our New Store Operations team arrived, the ice machines were a different brand. We made them replace them all." The words "nugget ice" come from the magazine and Scotsman dealers it quotes, not from HTeaO staff.
• Texas Monthly (August 6, 2021) describes filling a cup "at the pebble-ice machine made by Scotsman, the same company that provides Sonic with its iconic ice makers" at an HTeaO, and says "It's not just the pebble ice that HTeaO has borrowed from Sonic."
• HTeaO's website (menu, about and terms pages checked October 7, 2026) doesn't name the type of ice. Drink photos on its menu page show cups filled with small pebble-style ice rather than cubes; a photo can't prove the exact ice type, and we don't reproduce those images here.
• Pins are OpenStreetMap tea shops tagged as HTeaO, not a copy of HTeaO's store locator. HTeaO's terms forbid using its marks without written permission and forbid scrapers, bots and data mining, so we did not use the locator and we do not show a logo. Objects mapped twice within 150 meters count once, and a vacant building is left out. Two Amarillo stores are still branded Texas Tea, HTeaO's original name; their OpenStreetMap entries link to their own location pages on hteao.com, and the Aliworld feature says Scotsman machines are in "all Texas Tea and HTeaO stores," so they are pinned as "Texas Tea (HTeaO)." On October 7, 2026 this snapshot has 65 OpenStreetMap pins in 8 states (Texas 52, Oklahoma 6, Kansas 2, and one each in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico and Tennessee). Forty-five pins have a street that starts with a house number, one has a street with no house number, and 19 have no street in OpenStreetMap; no house number was guessed. HTeaO's online shop says it has 170+ stores (checked October 7, 2026), so many locations are not pinned yet. If yours isn't pinned, add it. If a pinned store doesn't have nugget ice, vote "no longer has it."

65 HTeaO locations on the map

Locations from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). They're chain-wide listings, not individually confirmed — a community report says every HTeaO has nugget ice, and a January 2022 Ali Group / Scotsman magazine feature says Scotsman machines make the nugget ice HTeaO serves, but HTeaO's own website doesn't name the ice type. HTeaO's terms prohibit scrapers and bots, so these pins are OpenStreetMap only, which is missing many of its 170+ stores. If yours isn't pinned, add it. If one is closed or its machine is out, vote “no longer has it.”

Cities with the most HTeaO locations

By state

Sources

1. Community report: every HTeaO location has nugget ice

   Community report to Nugget Ice Finder · 2026-10-07 · Local community report (no public link)

2. Tea for Texas (and Everywhere Else) (Aliworld North America, Issue 10, pp. 42–47)

   Ali Group / Scotsman Ice Systems · 2022-01 · Equipment-maker case study

   Dependable Scotsman ice machines create the nugget ice that HTeaO customers love, both in their drinks and bagged to go. … Scotsman ice machines have been in all Texas Tea and HTeaO stores since the very beginning.

3. Tea for Texas (and Everywhere Else) — article reprint

   Scotsman Ice Systems · 2022-01 · Equipment-maker case study

   And the nugget ice is key to everything they do. Anybody who loves drinks loves the soft nugget ice.

4. HTeaO Is Taking Over Texas, 51 Ounces at a Time

   Texas Monthly · 2021-08-06 · Press

   I went to fill up my cup at the pebble-ice machine made by Scotsman, the same company that provides Sonic with its iconic ice makers.

5. Menu page (drink photos show small pebble-style ice; text doesn't name the ice type)

   HTeaO · fetched 2026-10-07 · Company source

6. HTeaO online shop FAQ (background: store count; not about ice)

   HTeaO · 2026-10-07 · Company source

   Whether you're many miles away from one of our 170+ stores or just want HTeaO at home between visits

Menus and equipment change, so call ahead if you're making a special trip.