How its Made
Craft. Quality. Integrity.
How It's Made
From sourcing the finest whole fruiting body mushrooms to sealing every can, here is exactly how every Hongo product is made — nothing hidden, nothing cut.
The Hongo Standard
Hongo Tea Co was born in a kitchen in Loxahatchee, Florida when Sandra Watts brewed her first Reishi tea from a mushroom she found growing in their backyard. That original tea set the standard for everything we make today — real ingredients, real brewing, nothing artificial.
When we scaled that recipe into a product line, we made one non-negotiable decision: we would never compromise on quality to lower our costs. That means whole fruiting body mushrooms only, real brewing time, real herbs, and real fruit juices — every single time.
What follows is a complete and transparent breakdown of exactly how our products are made. We believe you deserve to know what's in your body and where it comes from.
Step One
Sourcing the Mushrooms
Every mushroom in every Hongo product starts with one absolute requirement — it must be a whole fruiting body. No mycelium on grain. No starch fillers. The actual cap and stem of the actual mushroom, grown to full maturity.
All of our mushrooms are grown using organic practices — no synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. While we are not officially certified organic (a lengthy and expensive process), our sourcing standards are strict and uncompromising.
We carry 14 mushroom species — from well-known staples like Reishi and Lion's Mane to rare species like Agarikon and Meshima that most brands don't even know exist.
Our Sourcing Standards
100% whole fruiting body — caps and stems only
Grown using organic practices, no synthetic inputs
Zero grain, zero starch, zero filler — ever
Tested for purity and potency
14 species including rare mushrooms unavailable elsewhere
Why Powder?
Our original teas were brewed using whole fruiting body pieces — brewed for 5-6 hours to penetrate the tough cell walls and extract beneficial compounds.
By grinding the fruiting bodies into a fine powder first, we dramatically increase surface area — meaning we achieve the same full extraction in just 45 minutes, with no reduction in quality or potency. More efficient. Same result.
Step Two
Powdering the Fruiting Bodies
Once the whole fruiting bodies arrive, they are dried and ground into a fine mushroom powder. This is still 100% whole fruiting body — the powdering process does not add or remove anything. It is purely a matter of increasing surface area for more efficient extraction during brewing.
Our single mushroom powders and powder blends are made from this same whole fruiting body powder — ready to mix into your coffee, smoothie, tea, or any recipe you choose.
The formula for our RTD teas is 8 grams of each mushroom per gallon — which delivers exactly 750mg per mushroom per 12oz can, and 3,000mg total across four mushrooms.
Step Three
The Brew
This is where Hongo Vitality Tea becomes something truly different from every other functional mushroom beverage on the market. We actually brew our teas — the same way tea has been made for thousands of years.
The whole fruiting body mushroom powder is brewed together with our whole-leaf dried herbs for approximately 45 minutes. This is long enough to ensure that all mushroom cell walls are fully broken down and every beneficial compound is released into the liquid.
Most functional mushroom beverages on the market simply dissolve powder into water or juice — that is not brewing. Real brewing extracts compounds through heat and time. The difference in bioavailability is significant.
What Goes Into the Brew
Whole fruiting body mushroom powder — 8g per mushroom per gallon
Whole-leaf dried herbs — Tulsi Rama, peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, hibiscus (depending on blend)
Whole-leaf Stevia — brewed in for natural sweetness, not extracted or powdered
100% pure fruit juices — for flavor and natural preservation (lemon, elderberry, key lime, black currant, or hibiscus)
45 minutes brew time — full cell wall breakdown and complete compound extraction
Our Herb Lineup
Tulsi Rama — an adaptogenic herb used in Ayurvedic wellness for centuries, supports the body's stress response
Peppermint — refreshing and cooling, traditionally supports digestion and mental alertness
Spearmint — lighter and sweeter than peppermint, traditionally supports digestion and relaxation
Lemon Balm — calming and citrusy, supports relaxation and immune health
Hibiscus Flower — naturally acidic, serves as both flavor and natural preservation in Pure Energy
Step Four
The Herbs
Every herb in our teas is a whole-leaf dried herb — not an extract, not a powder, not a flavoring. Real dried leaves, brewed the same way they've been brewed in herbal teas for thousands of years.
The herbs serve two purposes — they complement and enhance the functional properties of the mushrooms, and they help balance the naturally earthy and bitter flavor of the mushrooms to create a tea that people actually enjoy drinking every day.
This is actually how Hongo began — Sandra added herbs from her backyard garden to her first Reishi tea to make it more palatable. That principle has guided every formula we've built since.
Step Five
Natural Preservation
One of the most common questions we get is — how do you keep the teas shelf-stable without synthetic preservatives? The answer is simple: naturally acidic fruit juices.
Acidity is one of nature's oldest and most effective preservation methods. By using 100% pure fruit juices that are naturally high in acidity, we create an environment that keeps our teas fresh and shelf-stable — no citric acid additives, no synthetic preservatives, nothing artificial required.
Each blend uses a different juice pairing chosen for both its preservation properties and its flavor compatibility with the mushrooms and herbs in that blend.
Natural Preservation by Blend
Pure Focus
Key Lime juice + Black Currant juice — citrus acidity with rich berry depth
Pure Energy
Hibiscus Flower — naturally highly acidic, serves as both flavor and sole preservative
Pure Immunity
Lemon juice + Elderberry juice — bright citrus acidity with antioxidant-rich elderberry
What's in Every Can
Can size
12 FL OZ (355mL)
Total mushroom
3,000mg
Per mushroom
750mg each
Calories
0
Added sugar
0g
Caffeine
<2mg (natural)
Artificial ingredients
None. Ever.
Step Six
Canning & Quality Check
The finished brew is sealed into 12oz aluminum cans — a format that protects the tea from light and oxidation while being lightweight, recyclable, and easy to take anywhere.
Every batch is quality checked before it leaves production. Our standards are simple — if it doesn't meet the Hongo standard, it doesn't ship. The result is a shelf-stable tea that tastes great, delivers a real dose of functional mushrooms, and contains absolutely nothing artificial.
Each can carries the top band that says it all: "Clean Natural Energy From Functional Mushrooms."
How the Mushroom Coffee Is Made
Hongo Power Brew is elegantly simple. We start with 100% Colombian coffee — high quality single-origin beans that are ground to a consistent medium grind.
We then blend the ground coffee with our whole fruiting body mushroom powder at a ratio of 75% coffee to 25% mushroom powder. The mushrooms in Power Brew are Reishi, Lion's Mane, Shaggy Mane, Turkey Tail, and Chaga — five of the most functional mushrooms we carry.
The result brews exactly like normal coffee in any method you prefer — drip, French press, pour-over, espresso. No special equipment. No special instructions. Just better coffee with every cup delivering a meaningful dose of functional mushrooms. Available in regular and decaf.
Ready to Try the Real Thing?
Every Hongo product is made exactly the way we've described. No shortcuts. No compromise. Just the cleanest, most potent functional mushroom products we know how to make.
*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.