Inside one of the nation's most popular tea brands

this morning on the dish it is the perfect time of year to Cozy you up with a nice warm drink and if you're reaching for a cup of tea chances are you've come across haran Sons The Tea Company is one of the best known in the industry and distributes its hundreds of varieties around the world prominently featured even in tea loving countries like Japan and the UK and 40 years after the company started it's all still familyowned and run the Haring took us inside their Factory and flagship store in Upstate New York where you could say they spilled some tea There's Something Brewing in the Tiny Town of Millerton New York where it's always tea time blends of full body black leaves some creamy oolong and earthy green all perfectly balanced to celebrate an afternoon teas Elegance Michael Harney puts one of the Suns andan Sons so what are you doing can you what is that it's like you're you're you're you're breaking up the mo water molecules okay so but I don't know maybe maybe you shouldn't do that as Master tea buyer and blender Michael sources directly from Tea Gardens around the world and credits that as the secret to their success after launching with six T's their collection now includes more than 300 Blends and is sold in 52 countries with dedicated stores in Manhattan and Tokio but we're distributed in six continents and then we also have been consumed down at the NASA station in Antarctica so I like to say seven continents that's pretty rare to be able to say yes it is rare they offer white green matcha oolong black and herbal teas but hary and son's best seller is hot cinnamon spice a naturally sweet and spicy mix of black tea three types of cinnamon orange peel and sweet cloves so this is the one that made you guys pretty famous it has yes it's been very good to us got a kid or two through school right the equivalent of 30 Million Cups were sold last year alone a long way from the company's start in 1983 John hary Michael's father managed a New England Inn but had little experience with tea until a retired Englishman stopped by one day and he talked to my father uh and said you should be serving better tea than you're currently doing and my father agreed the Inn soon became known for its tea offerings and at 53 John started his own company out of his basement with the dream of turning te then better known in the states for being instant instead into an ever everyday luxury what made it a revolution the thing that my father started to do and others uh was to make it more specialized uh with the story behind it with special flavors uh he was lucky enough that people enjoyed that John passed away in 2014 but his legacy continues harne and Sons even holds rain in countries that keep tea time to the highest of standards they were invited by none other than the historic Royal palaces to supply tea for British landmarks like Kensington Palace in their gift shops how did harne and Sons end up in the Royal palaces someone approached him and he said yes I said you're nuts but we he why did you say you're nuts because because I can't I said I couldn't have imagine some you know we're third generation or sixth generation Irish so you go like all right um but uh we we were uh very happy uh to do that and we've become their largest uh license see and we're an American company that's remarkable it is remarkable yeah the leaves may come from all corners but they're imported to the company's facility in rur New York how much tea comes through here every year so we have about 200,000 lb a month which is about 2 and2 million pounds just of tea that comes here every year that's a lot of tea that is that's a lot of tea the second sun and haran Sons Paul hary overseas Factory operations Hector are you ready what do we have here well this is where we blend all the teas so this is a great spot to see because you you get to see how we make all the different tees oh there we go that includes collaborations with Partners like Ralph luren and Disney whose collection features a Snow White inspired blend with notes of Apple corn flowers and marold the Partnerships have helped bring fine tea to new consumers and it's not just what's being brewed but how this is pepper I can smell it it smells so good so these are the saet yes so this is in sachet this was where it sort of all started for us and we really started to grow the company says they were the first to use silken sachets in the US market the pyramid pockets of loose leaves allow the tea to be Fuller flavored than in traditional tea bags of CR leaves but a combination that's helped B hardan Sons a global Powerhouse but it all centers back to Millerton where the company's flagship store is on the main drag and chances are at least one Harney is running the counter still family-owned and operated Harney and sons has now expanded to a third generation of hars to include grandsons there's like something about like having like a mug as well as a daughter-in-law you like receip but the head of the business is indisputable at age 92 the family matriarch and John's Widow Elise Harney I understand that both of your sons are vice presidents but you are still the real boss in charge oh of course she's the president absolutely the company that all started over a cozy cup of tea is continuing to bring people together four decades later what is it mean to see where Harney and Suns is today well I'm amazed I'm very thankful I think the fundamentals of the company are the same you know we give you a good product and we make you smile and they make a lot of people smile our producer Emily dandro introduced me to Harney and Suns as a Christmas present about 3 years ago and we have love I I've loved it ever since but we have the hot cinnamon spice tea right here and got the top from my tea got keep it warm foam I it's really cute it has like a foamy they have a lot of good but their tea is absolutely fantastic oh delicious and the sachets I didn't know much about sachet before I started drinking har and Sons but they really keep that flavor so cheers very good Che cheers everybody

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 93,975

Keywords: CBS Saturday Morning, CBS News, video, Harney & Sons, tea, family owned

Id: RTqrtkkklrw

Length: 7min 12sec (432 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 06 2024