Long-time partners Jennie Ripps & Maria Littlefield launched Owl’s Brew Boozy Tea in 2020 out of a driving passion for tea blending—and frustration over the lack of great boozy beverages made with only real ingredients—founders Jennie Ripps and Maria Littlefield set out to change the industry. “We couldn’t find a great boozy beverage made with only clean ingredients, so we decided to make it ourselves, using botanicals and fresh-brewed tea as a base.” Shocked by how most “natural” beverages were actually made, they made it their mission to create something better: clean, refreshing drinks crafted from 100% real ingredients.
It all began when founder, and Tea Sommelier, Jennie Ripps learned about the benefits of tea & botanicals and began blending for her father, who was ill with cancer. She fell in love with crafting tea, both for functional & healing reasons and to create new, exciting flavors. Jennie transformed this passion into a career, initially partnering with h.wood group to create cocktails for The Tea Room at h.wood in Los Angeles. After meeting Maria Littlefield, in 2011, the two launched (and subsequently exited) Brew Lab, a NYC-based company that provided bespoke tea programs in NYC and nationally at elevated-dining establishments including Pastis, Upland, Clocktower, Quality Eats and Momofuku, as well as at hotels, health-focused and quick-serve restaurants, including Juice Press & Sweetgreen.
Jennie and Maria soon discovered tea’s potential as a flavorful cocktail mixer. “We were social young New Yorkers and didn’t understand why all our cocktails had to be so sugary, why our margaritas were neon green, or why a “raspberry hard seltzer” in a can was clear and tasted nothing like a raspberry. With so much tea on hand from Brew Lab, we began brewing tea & botanical based alcoholic drinks. We believed that everyone deserves a great tasting cocktail they could trust, and we saw our expertise as a pathway to that!”
Owl’s Brew started with tea, grit, and a gut feeling. In 2020, they launched Boozy Tea, a line of boozy beverages with bold flavor profiles, with a list of ingredients that everyone could recognize and pronounce. The brand leverages its founders’ expertise in tea & botanical blending (they say, “Drink Wise”), and their desire to provide a fresh, better-for-you alternative to the alcohol aisle.
The concept is catching on! They have attracted the attention of high-profile supporters and investors, including Chelsea Handler, Wheelhouse and Jeannie Mai and is available at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Total Wine, and online in over 40 states nationwide and in stadiums including Yankees Stadium, TD Garden (Celtics, Bruins), Sofi Stadium, Highmark Stadium (Bills), Rate Field (White Sox), The Coliseum, BMO, and Hard Rock Stadium Miami, just to name a few.
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