Raised in the small beach town of Hanalei, Kauai, Jamie’s mom served afternoon tea at the Princeville Hotel overlooking the infamous Hanalei Bay. Jamie was instantly captivated by the glamorous, inspirational, ways of tea.

After high school, she set off to study Culinary Arts and International Business in Santa Barbara, California, where she went on to work as a Pastry Chef in some of the nation’s top-rated resorts. During the farm to fork, organic, sustainable rise, she was shocked to learn of the harmful toxins, bleach and plastics in modern “healthy” tea bags. She immediately switched to loose-leaf tea and knew she could create something better.

In 2012, Jamie turned down her dream Pastry Chef career offer and set out on the crazy magical pursuit of building the ultimate expression of tea at 23 years old. She moved to San Francisco to learn more about how she could create the best tea experience. Her unwavering palate for excellent tea kept holding her up in the time crunch of fast-paced city life and a 7am - 9pm career.

It took too long to pack the loose tea, the bulky fragile brewing equipment, then brew on-the-go, clean, dry, and re-store. Her most precious luxury was turning into a complete nightmare. She searched the city for a simple solution. Extraordinary whole leaf tea in healthy plant-based bags did not exist and everyone else was still drinking chemical treated tea dust in bleached plastic bags. Not good. Not healthy. Not sustainable!

Inspiration sparked from her early childhood. A vision of tea: synonymous with integrity, strength and purity that is easy to brew at home and abroad. 

The philosophy is simple: specialty organic tea in sustainable plant-based bags.

She said yes to tea inspiration and moved home to Hawaii to rebuild the ultimate expression of tea. Hobbs Tea was born in 2013.