Shaka Tea Relocates to Hilo

Shaka Tea, the first line of iced teas on the market brewed with adaptogenic, herbal māmaki, a leaf only found and grown in the Hawaiian Islands, opened its HQ & Retail Experience Center on July 2, 2019, in Hilo.

Designed by O’ahu’s Mike Stowe, formerly the director of Visual Merchandising USA – Mid Pacific – Japan at DFS Group with floral design by Drew Murphy of the Accidental Florist, the center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located in the heart of Hilo at 288 Kīlauea Avenue.

Shaka Tea offers Hawaiʻi’s first tea-blending bar dedicated exclusively to Hawaiʻi-grown herbal, botanical and green and black teas, including their signature product, māmaki. All teas are grown on Hawaiʻi Island, which are sourced from over a dozen small farms. Customers are encouraged to make their own blends and can also enjoy a variety of tea wares, including locally made, artisan tea cups from Kīlauea Pottery. Shaka Tea will also stock native plants from HydroPono Native Plant Nursery.

Mosese ʻŌhia, an experienced retail professional, joins Shaka Tea as retail experience manager, overseeing the new HQ and all programming.

“All our māmaki is grown on Hawaiʻi Island, as well as other, herbal teas that we are beginning to experiment with, so it was a natural move to relocate our company, which we founded in Honolulu, to Hilo,” said Bella Hughes, Shaka Tea president and co-founder. “We hope our HQ will serve as a community space for kamaʻāina and visitors alike to learn more about Hawaiʻi-grown teas and agriculture. Being located between Two Ladies Kitchen and Asami’s Kitchen is great—we could not ask for a better location with natural foot traffic.”

Throughout the week, Shaka Tea will offer regular workshops and programming, including Tea & Talk Story, where guests can learn more about Shaka Tea, sustainable agriculture, the difference between endemic, canoe and introduced plants, enjoy samples, and end with māmaki tea blending workshop, taking home custom teas to share and enjoy.

Future programming will include agroforestry workshops, native landscaping lectures, lāʻau lapaʻau classes, “Meet the Farmer” events highlighting local tea growers, and more. Later this year, Shaka Tea will be adding tea processing equipment to the HQ to include a tea dryer and cutter, giving visitors the chance to see the entire process from leaf to cup.

About Shaka Tea

Shaka Tea is the first line of Hawaiʻi-grown, herbal iced teas on the market brewed with māmaki, which is only found and grown one place in the world, the Hawaiian archipelago. With a commitment to the health of our consumers and the health of our ‘āina (land), Shaka Tea is a naturally caffeine-free, 0cal/0g sugar product, supporting sustainable agriculture, found in major retailers across the US.

Shaka Tea was founded by Bella Hughes and Harrison Rice in 2016 with the vision to share sustainably-grown, healthy teas authentically reflective of Hawaiʻi, where Bella was born and raised. To learn more, visit www.shakatea.com or follow Shaka Tea on Instagram @drinkshakatea.