About Us
Hongo Tea Co — Our Story
Born From the
Forest Floor
A backyard garden. A mushroom on a log. A life changed. This is how Hongo began.
It Started in a Backyard in Loxahatchee
It was 2020. The world had gone quiet. Like many families, Tim and Sandra Watts turned to their yard — planting herbs, growing food, reconnecting with the earth.
Sandra had been struggling with increasing discomfort in her hands and fingers that was making everyday tasks difficult. She had tried conventional options, but was looking for something more natural, something that truly supported her body.
Then one day, she spotted something growing on a log in their yard — a Reishi mushroom. She did her research, made a tea, and added some of the fresh herbs growing just steps away to help balance the naturally bitter taste.
Within a few weeks, Sandra noticed a meaningful difference in how she felt. Tim started drinking it too. They kept researching, kept experimenting, and soon their kitchen was full of functional mushrooms.
Tim Watts, Co-Founder
"She found a Reishi growing on a log in our backyard. She made a tea. Within weeks, she felt like herself again. That was the moment everything changed."
From One Tea to a Full Line of Functional Products
What started as a simple home remedy became a daily ritual — and then a mission. Tim and Sandra began exploring the full world of functional mushrooms, studying each species and its unique properties.
They realized that most products on the market were cutting corners. Mycelium grown on grain instead of actual mushroom fruiting bodies. Fillers and starches. Synthetic additives. Mushroom "blends" with barely any mushroom in them.
So they decided to do it right. Only whole fruiting body mushrooms. No mycelium on grain. No fillers. No added sugar. No artificial anything. Every tea brewed the way tea is meant to be brewed — slowly, carefully, intentionally.
Today, Tim and Sandra — both in their late 50s, active, energetic, and medication-free — are living proof that these products work. Hongo Tea Co is not a supplement company that stumbled into mushrooms. It is a mushroom company, built by people who believe in this from the ground up.
Our Principles Are
Non-Negotiable
Whole Fruiting Bodies Only
Every mushroom in every Hongo product comes from the actual fruiting body — caps and stems — never mycelium grown on grain. No starch fillers. Ever.
Nothing Artificial
No added sugar. No artificial sweeteners. No preservatives. No synthetic flavors. We use whole-leaf dried herbs, whole-leaf Stevia, and 100% pure fruit juices. That's it.
Brewed With Intention
Our teas are brewed long enough to ensure full cell wall breakdown and maximum extraction of beneficial compounds. Real brewing. Real craft. Not a powder dissolved in water.
Massive Doses That Matter
3,000mg of whole fruiting body mushrooms per 12oz can. The industry average is 500mg. We didn't build this company to make underdosed products.
Transparency Always
We tell you exactly what's in every product, exactly how much, and exactly why. No proprietary blends hiding behind vague labels.
We Live This
Hongo Tea Co products are the only supplements Tim and Sandra take. These aren't products we sell — they're products we depend on every single day.
Meet the Founders
Tim is 59 years old, does CrossFit-style workouts regularly, and takes zero prescription medications. By trade, Tim is an entrepreneur — he owns and operates Century 21 WC Realty and Sunvest Mortgage Group in South Florida. He had no background in food, beverage, or supplements when Hongo began. Everything he knows about mushrooms, brewing, formulation, labeling, and bringing a product to market was learned from the ground up — driven entirely by a belief in what these products can do. He drinks Hongo teas as his primary daily beverage.
Sandra is 58 years old and the reason Hongo Tea Co exists. A devoted mother of three who also helps Tim run their real estate and mortgage businesses, Sandra had no background in herbalism or the supplement industry. When she found a Reishi mushroom growing on a log in their Loxahatchee backyard, she simply did her research, trusted her instincts, and made a tea. Her experience over the following weeks changed everything. Like Tim, she has had to learn this industry entirely from scratch — and that outsider perspective is exactly what drives Hongo's no-compromise approach to quality.
Clean. Honest. Functional.
We started Hongo Tea Co because we couldn't find products we trusted — so we made them ourselves. Everything we create is held to the same standard as the tea Sandra brewed in our kitchen in 2020.
Whole ingredients. Honest labels. Real doses. And a taste that actually makes you want to drink it every day.
Welcome to Hongo Tea Co. Hongo is Spanish for mushroom — and this is everything we believe mushrooms can be.
Whole Fruiting Bodies
No Added Sugar
3,000mg Per Can
Real Brewing
Nothing Artificial
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Hongo Tea Co products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual experiences may vary.