In The Media
NC IDEA MICRO Grant winner and tea innovator Embrew launches brand new packaging and showcases co-branded blend “Strawberry Yaupon Hops” with supplier Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co.
Sept 21, 2023
After taking home one of the highly competitive grant awards from the NC IDEA foundation last October, Embrew Tea revamped their packaging for their lightly sweetened, premium tea bags to be better suited for retail shelves. The new packaging line for the growing tea business included a co-branding effort with supplier Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co, which is leading the resurgence of American-grown yaupon tea.
The popular blend, Strawberry Yaupon Hops, includes the trending superfood yaupon holly tea, which was named the the number one top ten food trend for 2023 by Whole Foods Markets and named Best New Tea by Men’s Health Magazine.
The blend highlights the smooth characteristics of green yaupon, calming properties of cascade hops, and sweetness of strawberries with a touch of organic cane sugar giving the drinker energy without the jitters of a typical green tea.
The new line of packaging debuted at the Summer Atlanta Gift Market and was received with overwhelming interest from boutique gift store buyers. The new boxes are now shipping to retailers in time for the cool-weather of fall when consumption of hot tea begins to ramp up in the US and before the holiday season.
After searching for a sweetened tea bag years ago, founder Ashley Haywood began blending gourmet teas and unique specialty sweeteners together so that each tea bag could brew a perfectly balanced cup of premium hot tea without cumbersome infusers or a honey jar. The most popular Embrew flavors like Lavender Chamomile Kick and Bourbon Smoked White have paved the way for this unique blend using wild-crafted organic yaupon, strawberries and hops.
The Yaupon Holly tree is the only caffeinated plant native to the US and was first discovered and brewed into tea by the Ais and Timucua tribes. This hardy, drought and heat-tolerant plant grows from Virginia, down to Florida and across to Texas. It contains roughly the same amount of caffeine as green tea, but creates a non-jittery energy like yerba mate since Yaupon leaves contain theobromine, which is the pleasure molecule found in chocolate.
You can find the Strawberry Yaupon Hops blend and the whole line of lightly sweetened tea bags in their brand new packaging online at embrew.com, in-stores around Asheville, NC, and now in more than 8 states throughout the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions.
About Embrew
Embrew has created the world’s first naturally sweetened artisan tea bags filled with innovative blends that guarantee a superior cup of tea without a cumbersome infuser set up. Female-founder, Ashley Haywood, has perfected the sweetness and flavor for each brew through extensive recipe exploration and ingredient sourcing. As a result, there's no question of should I use coconut sugar or maple, or having to wait for-freaking-ever for the crystalized honey to come out. When she realized she had created time itself – literal minutes – she had to share it with tea people everywhere.
embrew.com
About Yaupon Brothers
Yaupon Brothers American Tea Company was founded in 2015 by two brothers, Bryon and Kyle White and former mentor-turned-business-partner, Mark Steele. Our Yaupon teas are a true labor of love. Each leaf is hand-plucked, carefully dried or fire-roasted, graded and milled, and hand-packed in our facility in Edgewater, Florida. We don't outsource any aspect of production, because we won't compromise on quality. Yaupon Brothers has a policy of transparency, because we're proud of our craft and we want to share it with the world. Quality combines with nature's special touch in East Central Florida, where Yaupon trees are ancient and very special.
yauponbrothers.com
Article featured in WNC Business Magazine as well.
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WNC Business Magazine Features Ashley Haywood to Discuss Entrepreneurial Support Within The Community of Craft Beverage
May 20, 2023
Founder and owner of Embrew Tea, Ashley Haywood, highlights the instrumental role of WNC's supportive community in facilitating the growth of craft beverage companies such as Embrew.
Ashley shares how WNC businesses assist others in achieving success. She also discusses the innovative approaches adopted by craft beverage companies, including Embrew, in diversifying their beverage offerings, which complement the offerings of craft breweries in the region.
Read more here (click to zoom in):
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Talking 'Ship Podcast -Talking with Embrew Tea Founder Ashley Haywood
May 11, 2023 SEASON 3 EPISODE 9
Join us for a fun conversation with Ashley Haywood, the Founder of Embrew Tea, where we find out how she makes sure you can re-steep their tea bags.
In this podcast, Jeff talks with Ashley about how they order the same dish where ever they go, her fun early career beginnings, the twists and turns through Costa Rica, online poker, home shopping, and of course where this has all led with Embrew Tea and how she's learning that #solopreneurship is a total myth.
You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Amazon Music, or simply click here to listen on Venture Asheville.
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CBS 17 My Carolina Features Embrew Tea on Their "Mothers Day Gift Ideas" From Dawn's Corner Series
May 1st, 2023
CBS 17 Carolinas showcased Embrew Tea on the 9am show with Shop Dawns Corner alongside a group of other products for Mother's Day. Dawn kicked off the segment with Embrew, since it is a women-owned, ethically-sourced, innovative tea brand, and a great way for Mom to kick off Mother’s Day-since a mom created it. Embrew's high-end, lightly-sweetened, loose-leaf grade tea bags make your tea time (and me time) easy and inspiring without the hassle of an infuser or sticky honey
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Embrew Exhibits at the Winter Fancy Food Show
February 1st, 2023
Fox 13 Features Embrew Tea on Their "Made In Tampa Bay" Series
December 4th, 2021
Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Holiday Shopping Guide Features Embrew Tea
October 28th, 2021
We are honored to be featured by a great company who has helped me get my bookkeeping under wraps for the past year when I finally got on board.
Embrew is Featured on The Hustleburg podcast
May 27th, 2021
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Embrew is Featured on St Petersburg Foodies podcast
March 2nd, 2021
Localtopia St Pete is a Success for Small Businesses
February 20th, 2021
Localtopia St Pete holds a very special first for our founder. Her first event as a business, her first tea sale, Embrew's first customer. This event is a representation of all the amazing things about St Pete; the small businesses, the art, the food. It's always a gem of a day and ran from 10-5pm in Williams Park.
The local Fox affiliate ran a story on the event and showcased Embrew as a featured vendor at the event. See the full article coverage here.
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Embrew Wins St Pete Pitch Night
October 22nd, 2020
It was an amazing experience to pitch for $5,000 in seed money at St Pete Pitch Night. The other 4 start-ups are fantastic and will continue to be very successful. It was an honor to pitch alongside them and I can't thank The Greenhouse enough for the opportunity to participate and the judges who believed in me enough to score my pitch above the others. This money will be able to help pay for the new packaging for Embrew that will make our products shelf-ready for retailers.
Excerpt from the article:
The [St Pete Pitch Night] event, which focuses on showcasing, elevating and seeding community-based businesses, featured presentations from five local entrepreneurs seeking funding to help grow their companies.
“St. Petersburg is a city that celebrates small businesses,” said Mayor Rick Kriseman before announcing Embrew as the winner. “We really recognize the important role small businesses and entrepreneurs play in our community, and it’s what sets us apart from so many other cities.”
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Founder Interview on The Morning Blend Tampa Bay
July 2nd, 2020
It was an exciting day when our founder, Ashley Haywood, was interviewed on Tampa Bay's Morning Blend - broadcast on ABC Action News, where she was able to tell the locals about her unique tea that is made right in St Petersburg, Florida. Watch the segment below to hear about how it all started, the evolution of the business and what the most popular flavors are.