BUILT AROUND A PAUSE
CharisTea began not as a product, but as a feeling — the kind you get when someone puts a cup of tea in your hands and says: sit down, stay a while.
TEA REQUIRES YOU TO SLOW DOWN. YOU LET IT STEEP, YOU TAKE YOUR TIME, YOU'RE PRESENT.
I’ve always wanted a tea business — long before I even knew what that could look like.
At its core, the idea began as a feeling: a place to gather, to appreciate something simple and meaningful. An intimate setting where you have to sit down, be present, and pause for a moment. A space to laugh, connect, and enjoy life.
I started drinking tea when I was 14 on my first trip to Europe. I stayed with family in Ireland, and we had tea time every day. I wasn’t particularly into the tea back then — I was more excited about the cream and cookies — but I loved the ritual, the warmth, and the connection it created.
Tea requires you to slow down. You let it steep, you take your time, you’re present. And it can be interpreted in countless ways — just like art.
When I learned how tea is picked and harvested — that the finest leaves come from the very top of the plant — I was struck by how precious it truly is. That deepened my appreciation and inspired me to create something that honors that beauty.
I wanted to blend tea with art because they share the same qualities: they make you pause, they invite interpretation, and they create an emotional experience. I also wanted tea to feel accessible but still special — fun, elevated, and a little exclusive.
My hope is that this brand sparks conversation, gives people a reason to slow down, and creates moments of connection. That’s what tea has always done for me, and now I want to share that experience with others.
meet the team
KRISTEN
Kristen is the Chief Brand Officer at CharisTea, bringing 15+ years of experience helping growing companies shape what gets built, why it matters, and making it real. Her tea story starts at home: her dad brewing a cup to have with toast on crisp fall mornings, getting her and her sisters ready for school. That's where tea came to represent comfort and stability, and it's a feeling she's carried into adulthood, where she's built her own rituals around it — a steadying cup to start the day, another to close it out. For Kristen, tea has always been less about the drink itself and more about the pause it makes room for.
ROBELLE
Robelle is Head of Operations at CharisTea, bringing over 2 decades of digital strategy and ecommerce leadership to the operational heart of the brand. Growing up, the one type of tea she knew came from bags that produced bitter tea that did not offer anything to look forward to. When she moved to the States, she was introduced to tea varieties over gatherings and meals, and suddenly tea became a ritual worth savoring. Her favorite is roasted green tea which she finds grounding and restorative. What drives Robelle to tea is the gathering around it and how it creates conditions for friends and family to take a beat and savor a moment together.
sinan
Sinan is Chief Marketing Officer at CharisTea, bringing 20 years of marketing experience from agency to in-house, with a focus on what makes people stay loyal to a brand. Her tea story starts in college, late nights in the dorm kitchen with a pot of tea and friends. Chai is her favorite, from those first cups shared with friends in Tanzania. These days, it's Sunday mornings with tea and pastries with her husband and kids in Oakland. For Sinan, tea has always meant the same thing: pause, and be present.
kim
Kim is the Chief Sourcing & Procurement Officer at CharisTea, though she prefers Chief Tea Taster. In a previous life, she was Charis's Global Strategy & Operations Director, bonding over growing businesses and good tea. When Charis decided to launch CharisTea, it took Kim less than a sip's worth of time to say yes in joining her journey. Her tea story began with a breakup, with coffee: turns out she's wildly sensitive to caffeine, so once coffee was off the table, tea had to earn its keep, and it did. Greens became her thing: genmaicha, matcha, sencha, hojicha, anything low-caffeine and full of flavor, chased down wherever she could find them during her travels. These days, that's a matcha chai latte most mornings, stirred together before anything else happens. That first sip is her signal the day has begun, bright and full of intention. It's the same instinct she brings to the work: tracking down the right supplier, tasting all the samples, trusting the good ones when she finds them, and finding joy in the process.
One Letter. The Whole World.
There's a word — Charis — that the ancient Greeks used for something they couldn't quite explain. Not just kindness. Not just beauty. Something closer to grace. The kind that arrives unexpectedly, that makes an ordinary moment feel like a gift.
We named this brand after that feeling.
What we didn't expect was how far the C would reach. Across languages and centuries, tea has always gathered people. Cha in Cantonese, Japanese, Portuguese. Chai in Hindi, Urdu, and dozens more. Even the plant itself carries it: Camellia sinensis, its finest leaves growing quietly at the very top, where the air is thinner and time moves differently.
One letter, held in common by almost every culture that ever sat down with a warm cup and stayed a while.
We put that C on every tin as a reminder of what tea has always been — not just a drink, but a reason to pause, to gather, to share something that matters. That's what we're building here. One drop at a time.
One letter, held in common by almost every culture that ever sat down with a warm cup and stayed a while.
COMMUNITY
CharisTea is a gathering, not just a product.
PRESENCE
Joy lives in the pause. We create rituals that invite you to be fully here.
COLLECTIBILITY
Each drop is a moment worth holding onto.
ARTISTRY
Every blend, vessel, and collaboration is made with care and deep intention.
ELEVATED JOY
Joy is crafted, shared, and savored — one intentional cup at a time.
GENEROSITY
Rooted in the meaning of Charis — we give warmly, in community and in cup.
Our Mission
We believe in crafting beverages that nourish both body and soul. Our mission is to source the finest organic ingredients and blend them with intention, creating drinks that inspire wellness and connection in every sip.
Our Vision
To become a beacon of mindful consumption, where every bottle represents a commitment to sustainability, community, and the transformative power of nature's bounty. We envision a world where wellness is accessible, authentic, and deeply rooted in tradition.
ART MEETS TEA.
Each CharisTea drop pairs thoughtfully sourced tea with original artwork from an independent artist... We're just getting started.
