Harney & Sons

John Harney started what became Harney & Sons in 1983, learning to blend tea from Stanley Mason, the owner of Sarum Teas in Salisbury, Connecticut, and pouring his own early blends for guests at the White Hart Inn before buying Sarum outright and running the business from his own basement. Four decades on, the company is still family-run — sons Michael and Paul now serve as vice presidents, with a third generation already in the business — and has grown from a handful of original blends to more than three hundred teas.

The tasting room and shop in Millerton, New York, sit beside the company's own factory, giving visitors a rare chance to taste the blends where they're actually made, while a second storefront in SoHo brings the same range into Manhattan. Harney also holds Fair Trade certification on a portion of its range and partners with 1% for the Planet, donating a share of sales to environmental causes.

Few American tea houses can claim this direct a line from a single founder's basement operation to a nationally distributed brand still run by his own family.