Sherry Fuhrmann is a fifth generation meadow mint tea drinker. As a child, she’d forage for wild mint leaves that her mother steeped with sugar to make this simple, refreshing beverage. Inspired by this treasured tradition, Fuhrmann founded Pure Wild Tea, a PA Preferred® tea company in Berks County offering ready to drink teas made from a variety of fresh mint Fuhrmann grows on her mint farm.
Fuhrman spoke with us about bottling a special tradition, passed down from her Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, for new generations. “My business started as a legacy for my mom, who passed away,” she says. “We are reminded of her every time we’re processing a batch of tea. I love that it brings me back to my roots, growing up on a farm. Every day in the summer, we’re in the fields plowing, planting, harvesting, weeding and spreading straw. I love it so much because it’s something I’m passing on to my grandchildren, who are out there in the fields and in the processing room with us. They’re building a work ethic like no other, and enjoying the same passion that I have. So, it’s a multigenerational effort to build this business.”
Pure Wild Tea is a bit profound in its simplicity, hearkening back to eras of pure, whole ingredients, authentic flavors and homespun magic. It’s free of artificial colors and flavors, caffeine and GMOs and the handpicked mint is free of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. It’s a true simple pleasure.
Fuhrman tells us, “Mint is not typically something people grow for a drink. It’s a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition that many enjoy. But, like losing the dialect, as time goes by we lose some traditions. So I’m really trying to save it and also cultivate something new. People now are willing to try new things, and often find out that they really love them.”
Mint harvest helpers
The Pure Wild Tea family not only farms an uncommon crop, but they have their hand in every step of the process, from planting the mint to harvesting, processing, producing, packing and distribution. “We’re on the road with our vans delivering it to retailers,” says Fuhrman. This level of involvement aligns with the company’s homemade, handcrafted ethos.
Pure Wild Tea offers a variety of gently sweet, refreshing flavors. Apple Mint is the top seller, named for the Mentha suaveolens mint variety used – and not for apples. It comes in both sweetened and unsweetened varieties and is found at many Amish and Mennonite stands. Other flavors include strawberry mint (Mentha spicata), chocolate mint (Mentha x piperita ‘Chocolate’) lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), and two brand new releases.
“We just released our triplets,’ as we call them,” says Fuhrmann. “Blueberry Buckle is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch dessert that my mom would make. It’s like a crumb cake that I just loved so much. The Raspberry Patch is another new release. My mom would take all of us kids raspberry picking every summer and we’d have raspberry jam and raspberry pie. And Southern Peach reminds me of going to the orchard and picking peaches with my mom. We’d have 100 or so jars of peaches and eat them all winter long.”
You can find Pure Wild Teas in over 160 locations throughout multiple counties in eastern and central Pennsylvania. A number of schools also serve the teas in their cafeteries. “We make the product so that students are allowed to have it based on carbohydrates and sugars,” Fuhrmann says.
Part of Pure Wild Tea’s continued growth has been participation in the PA Preferred program. Fuhrmann says, “Over the last 10 years, I’ve seen the number of people looking for PA Preferred brands skyrocket. People are searching for the logo and to put the items in retail shops. Having that on my label has helped build my brand, put my product in new retailers and just get the word out about my business. It’s been phenomenal.”
If you’d like to sip on some Pure Wild Tea, head to its online shop or one of its many retail seller locations. You can follow Pure Wild Tea on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop on flavors and other news! 78 Northkill Rd., Bernville; (610) 488-7263.
This series was created in collaboration with PA Preferred.
PA Preferred® is Pennsylvania’s statewide branding program that promotes locally grown and processed food and other agricultural products.
- Photos: Pure Wild Tea
