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.
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.
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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.