By: Kelvin Yu
Southern California has no shortage of wellness language. You can buy “clean,” “pure,” and “elevated” in almost any strip mall and wellness store from Venice to Irvine. But behind a lot of that language is sugar, caffeine, or marketing.
Erbal Brews (also known as Erbal Hydration, or simply Erbal) is trying to do something quieter and more serious.
The Southern California-based herbal tea brand has built a following around what it calls “healthy hydration”: sipping something warm, nourishing, and genuinely enjoyable all day, rather than cycling between coffee, soda, and whatever “functional” drink is trending.
The ritual is simple. Drop a blend into hot water. Keep refilling. Keep drinking. No caffeine. No carbonation. No artificial syrups. Just fruit, flowers, and traditional botanicals handled like food.
“People tell us, ‘I didn’t expect herbal tea could actually taste good,’” the team says. “They come back, and they bring their mom, their aunt, their friends. We’ve watched it turn into part of people’s daily routine.” Some customers are already asking for subscription options, which Erbal plans to release this winter.
Unlike many “better-for-you” beverages that are canned and heavily flavored, Erbal still packs every blend by hand in Fullerton, Orange County. That’s not romantic window dressing. It’s about control.
The facility operates under strict state and federal organic standards. Ingredients are handled the way you would handle real food, not a novelty gift item. There are no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. Whenever possible, ingredients such as goji, jujube, and ginger are sourced from USDA-certified organic farms.
When certified-organic versions of certain traditional botanicals aren’t available domestically, the founders would rather find the cleanest possible source than compromise. “If we can get it organic here, we will,” they say. “If we can’t, we’ll go to the birthplace of the ingredient. We don’t substitute in cheap filler.”
That same mindset extends to packaging. The sachet material is biodegradable. The base material is sourced from Europe, formed into pouches in a specialized facility in Taiwan, then filled and finished by hand in Orange County. “It’s something special for people who really care about what they put into their bodies,” says Choosh Yu, the founder and CEO. “If we don’t enjoy drinking it, we won’t sell it.”
The care shows up in the recipes. Nourish & Glow uses organic goji berry, organic jujube (red date), European rosebud, and organic ginger root, with no added flavors, colors, or sweeteners. The taste is softly floral, gently fruity, and quietly warming, developed with women’s daily wellness in mind, so it feels nourishing rather than depleting.
Power Potion leans deeper: organic mulberry, organic hawthorn fruit, organic goji berry, and osmanthus flower. It starts rounded, then opens into brightness. It’s the one people reach for on those intense, long days, long drives, and extended family weekends.
Maybe the most Southern California thing about Erbal isn’t the ingredient list. It’s the intention. The company isn’t asking you to cleanse or chase a trend. It’s making wellness feel normal.
You start a pot in the morning. You carry it through your day. You refill with hot water. You keep drinking something that tastes good, instead of reaching for another caffeine hit or another can.
At weekend markets and pop-ups across the region, the feedback has been personal. Shoppers come back not just for themselves, but with a short list of names. “We hear, ‘I brought this to my sister. She finished the whole thing,’” the team says. “Or, ‘My dad actually liked it. He never likes this kind of thing.’”
That’s the difference between a product and a habit. And it’s happening here in Southern California, one hand-packed sachet at a time. Learn more from our website at www.erbalbrews.com
Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information provided is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or another qualified healthcare professional with any questions you may have about a health condition or before starting any new wellness routine or product.