That’s the Tea: An Exploration of Brooklyn Crafted

As a student always shuffling between lecture halls and club meetings, I can confidently say that I am no stranger to obsessing over the latest health trends in Women’s Magazine. Yet, despite all the glamour of the keto diet, simple hydration remains my muse in developing good health habits.

I’ll admit I’m not the best at remembering to drink water.  When I do, I try to spice it up (a little lemon goes a long way). But, again, as your typical frenzied university student, I barely have enough time to tie my shoes, let alone buy citrus for flavoring. So when Marcia from Brooklyn Crafted invited our e-Board to tour their brewery, I almost felt an obligation to go.

Brooklyn Crafted is a local beverage manufacturer in Bushwick known for their award-winning ginger beers. Recently, they have expanded to include an herbal tea line. Eager to check this out, two other e-board members (Rebecca and Megan) and I took a subway to Morgan Ave, where the brewery was located just minutes away. There, we met Marcia, and she took us on a fun and educational tour of the headquarters. It was a quirky site, with plans for graffiti-design walls and a bottling line halfway on the route to fruition.

After a bit of yummy taste testing, our e-board crew came to the conclusion that the Brooklyn Crafted teas can be defined as “a modern memory” of traditional herbal teas. From its variety of herbal flavors, this locally brewed tea offered all kinds of nostalgia from my childhood in a Chinese-American household. My personal favorite, the Prunella (aka “Xia Ku Cao”), was served cold with a memory of the Chinese herbal medicine my mother used to give me when I was feeble with a cold and in want of some TLC. A bonus point is that prunella happens to be known for its detoxifying and anti-inflammatory effects, and I’m all for reducing bloat.

I left Brooklyn Crafted with a bottle of Hibiscus Flower tea and a sense of excitement for my next health endeavor. The teas taste great both hot and cold and every bottle has less than 100 calories.

The beverage industry is actually much bigger and more exclusive than I had thought; Brooklyn Crafted is a smaller-sized business in an industry that is hard to crack open (no pun intended) and surrounded by glamorous labels. I’m going to put it out there– NYU Dining halls take note– there are healthy options out there that should really be up for consideration.

I’m also wondering if I could get something to detox some nasty classmates from my life,  but I guess that’s tea for another time.