The default move for a new tea brand is to find a contract blender, slap your label on the tin, and never mention the manufacturer again. We took the opposite path. Four of our eight teas — Earl Grey Supreme, Darjeeling First Flush, Uji Matcha, Lapsang Souchong — are blended at Wissotzky's facilities and ship with that fact printed on the tin and the PDP.
Wissotzky was founded in 1849 in Tel Aviv. Their cuppers and blenders include people who have been at their tables for thirty years. The blending traditions for Earl Grey and Darjeeling are not things you reproduce in a Portland workshop in eighteen months. They're things you outsource to the people who already do them better than anyone else, and then you say so out loud.
We took inspiration from selvedge denim brands like 3sixteen and Tellason, which name the mill that wove the fabric. Naming the manufacturer is a confidence cue, not a footnote. It tells the customer that the cup in their hand is the result of a real partnership between a modern brand and a heritage maker — not a marketing exercise hiding contract production.
The other four teas — Yunnan Golden Tips, Jasmine Silver Needle, Chamomile & Verbena, Moroccan Mint — are blended in-house by our herbalist, Bess Dallal. These are the teas where our voice as a brand shows up, and they're labeled as such. You always know who made the cup in your hand.
