This New Beverage Company Puts Love in Each Cup

Photo courtesy of Good Pharma

Even for casual customers of products in the wellness category, the medicinal mushroom craze has been hard to miss. Gwyneth Paltrow’s been singing its praises for years. And if it didn’t happen on Goop, is it even good for you? Now Marin’s own tea titans Jill Portman and Gary Shinner, the founders of Mighty Leaf Tea, are offering restorative teas and coffees through their new endeavor, Good Pharma.

The product line includes four blends that are uniquely designed to aid with common afflictions. Two utilize the restorative power of mushrooms: a coffee and mushroom infusion to give you focus and get you going, and a tea to boost immunity. The other two are teas that incorporate an herb and jujube seed infusion — one to chill you out and another to help you sleep.

What sets Good Pharma apart from some of its competitors is the company’s focus not merely on the ingredients, but on how those ingredients are ingested. Medicine — not marketing hype — is at the heart of the brand, with an emphasis on delivering pharma nature’s way. High-quality ingredients have been sourced and extracted into high-potency granules — packing a powerful wellness punch into each cup. A compostable single-service infuser provides a soothing pour-over experience for consumers, but it serves a practical function, too — the ability to stir up the ingredients and activate the product’s supplements or “Rxtracts,” as they call them. 

Portman describes herself as having been on a “personal journey of wellness,” starting back when she and Shinner were traveling around the world for Mighty Leaf Tea. They credit the success of their first company to its focus on ingredients and positive consumer experiences, not the bottom line. After selling Mighty Leaf to JAB Holding Company, which owns Peet’s Coffee, the tea leaves suggested they were not yet finished with the business. They thought they were uniquely poised to offer consumers “a sensory and indulging experience that pushed the envelope on wellness in a daily ritual practice.” 

After a recent struggle with her own health, Portman soured on the ill effects of big pharma’s medical solutions, leading her to dive even deeper into natural ingredients and age-old herbal remedies. This made the use of word “pharma” all the more surprising for the wellness brand, but it’s intentional. 

“We are using plant-based medicines that have been around for centuries. We’re questioning how one goes about optimizing their well-being in a way that is more in tune with your body. It’s absolutely pharma, but plant-based pharma.”  

When talking with Portman, you get the sense that she wants to take care of the people around her — and Good Pharma is a way for her to help as many people as possible. Once you’re in their orbit, you’re likely going to stay. All the manufacturing for the company is managed by a family-run operation in Morocco that they’ve been working with for more than 20 years. 

For someone who describes “tea as an art form,” Portman’s belief in the power of her products is resolute. With data supporting the positive health benefits of not only tea and plant-based supplements, but also the known outcomes of regular meditation, Good Pharma offers a ritualistic wellness practice that calms the mind and body. And when wellness is as easy as a stroll to the kitchen, that is habit we could all get used to.

Enjoy Good Pharma tea at the Spa at Cavallo Point in Sausalito, Juice Girl in Mill Valley, and Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley. Available for purchase at Palace Market in Point Reyes and www.drinkgoodpharma.com.