Wild Herbs, Wilder Ambitions — BP&O

Three years later, in Portland, Oregon, Steve Lee, Dave Leger and Steven Smith set up in the basement of a Victorian house with 7,000 dollars and a vision. Stash Tea began by supplying loose herbal teas and bulk herbs to natural food stores. The name came from maritime folklore, where captains kept the best teas for their own stash.

When customers started asking for tea bags in 1975, Stash moved quickly, helping bring herbal tea into a more accessible format.

Around the same time, Celestial leaned into playful illustration. Yogi Tea, launched in 1973, arrived with henna-inspired graphics that looked nothing like the Tetley and Lipton packs on supermarket shelves..

By the 1980s, herbal tea was moving into the mainstream and brands shifted with it. Celestial eased away from its counterculture roots as the category grew. By 1987, it was big enough for Bigelow and Lipton to launch their own lines.

What started with hand-picked herbs turned into an industry, with natural foods moving from the margins into the mainstream.