Oliver Puff & Company
Oliver Pluff & Company was founded in 2009 with the goal of connecting people to American history through the beverages enjoyed by earlier generations. The company initially focused on premium iced tea, but its direction changed after receiving an order from Colonial Williamsburg. When the historic site asked for help supplying colonial-era teas, founder Kyle Brown began researching the varieties imported into the American colonies during the 1700s.
That research led Oliver Pluff & Company to specialize in historically inspired teas, coffees, cacao drinks, wassail spices and hot-toddy blends. The company studies old trade records and the history of the British East India Company to identify teas such as Bohea, Congou, Singlo and Young Hyson—the types of tea associated with colonial America and the Boston Tea Party. Its teas are sourced from traditional growing regions in China, India and Sri Lanka to recreate the flavor profiles that early Americans may have known.
The business later moved to Charleston, South Carolina, a city with deep ties to colonial trade and its own Revolutionary-era tea protests. Its name is not taken from a historical person; “Oliver Pluff” is an invented name inspired partly by the soft coastal mud of the South Carolina Lowcountry, commonly known as pluff mud.
Today, Oliver Pluff & Company is a veteran-owned business led by retired U.S. Air Force officer Darren Hartford. The company continues to preserve early American beverage traditions through carefully blended teas and coffees, historically inspired packaging and stories explaining each product’s place in American history. Its collection allows customers to do more than simply read about the past—they can experience a small taste of it in their cup.
