I sat down and cracked open an old journal from the early days living in Portland, Oregon when I had more time on my hands, and used to cycle to different coffee shops dreaming of my next enterprise. My latest venture was in the earliest of stages, picking a name. After a decade of thinking I was going to open my own coffee shop, it had suddenly hit me that what I really desired was to start a little tea company focused on sharing unique tea experiences with my friends. I turned to a page in the journal that had ‘a laundry list’ of different names scrawled on it. As I was scanning over the old ideas, one jumped off the page at me: it was the name “Herald”. I don’t even remember what it was initially considered for, maybe a beer or bread company, but for some reason 5 years later it was jumping off the page at me with a certain freshness. The name had an optimistic and a regal, even royal ring to it. It spoke to me of a noble mission, the mission of creatively declaring and sharing the beauty of delicious tea with anyone I could.
The way the name Herald struck me then, still rings true today. It speaks of the noble cause of heralding the good news, declaring from the mountaintops the joy and friendships that can be appreciated over a cup of delicious tea. One descriptor you’ll find if you look up the definition of Herald is forerunner. This is what we want to be as a brand, one of the forerunners of specialty tea appreciation in America: not just in the small circles of tea enthusiasts, but to win over coffee lovers, whiskey lovers, wine lovers, bagged tea lovers, and to consistently, persistently, and generously share the good news of how magical truly good tea can be – especially when it is bringing us together in genuine, heartfelt connection and friendship. Herald is not here to make tea in and of itself better, we are simply here to create memorable experiences around tea that highlight and proclaim what has always been good. Herald seeks to share the good news through the #TeasofCharacter we choose for our collection, through the design of the brand and our products, and most importantly by seeking to connect with all of you, our friends. If you are reading this first ever Herald Tea blog post, I can honestly say, I can’t wait to connect and share some truly delicious teas with you. Here’s to many joyous tea times!
Talk soon,
Dan