There's a word for the soft rustle of wind through leaves, the ambient murmur of nature settling into itself, the quiet hum of conversation at a table where something good is being poured. That word is susurrus. It's also, not coincidentally, the name Ellison  Wofford chose for her sparkling tea company. And it tells you almost everything you need to know about what she's trying to create.

Wofford launched Susurrus Sparkling Teas in January 2026, after two years of development and more than a decade building her career in Napa's wine industry. She did it alone, as a solo female founder, with a clear ambitious vision: to bring the same reverence, rigour, and sense of place that defines great winemaking to the ancient, often underestimated world of tea.

From Napa to a new kind of bottle

Wofford's path to founding Susurrus was neither sudden nor accidental. Originally from South Carolina, she moved to Napa in 2013 and spent the years that followed working across multiple dimensions of the wine business — first as a commercial lender, then as General Manager of RAEN Winery, and most recently as Director of Business Development and Trade Sales at Bella Oaks. Along the way, she became a 500-hour certified yoga teacher, drawn toward a vision of wellness that didn't require choosing between a life in wine and a life of intention.

The connection between tea and that vision revealed itself gradually. The more she explored tea — its origins, its cultivation, its staggering complexity — the more the parallels with wine became impossible to ignore. Both are ancient agricultural beverages shaped by terroir. Both express the character of a specific place, season, and human hand. Both are naturally rich in tannins and polyphenols. And both reward the kind of slow, attentive drinking that the word susurrus itself seems to call for. The difference, Wofford observed, was that tea had never been presented with the care and context that wine routinely receives. Susurrus was founded to change that.

In frame: Ellison  Wofford, Founder of Susurrus Sparkling Tea

What's in the bottle

Susurrus Sparkling Teas are non-alcoholic bottlings of organic, single-origin teas — sourced with the same specificity a winemaker might apply to sourcing grapes. Each tea is hand-harvested, naturally processed, and chosen for its ability to express the character of its origin. The bubbles are not an afterthought; they're a considered addition that transforms each tea into something genuinely suited to the table, the celebration, and the kind of moment that calls for something special in the glass.

The inaugural range launches with two bottlings, each rooted in China's ancient tradition of flower-scented teas.

The Osmanthus Golden Tip begins with hand-harvested organic black tea buds from Yunnan, sourced from old-tree Big Leaf Black cultivars grown at 2,000 metres elevation and harvested at first flush in April 2024. These are then intensively scented with osmanthus blooms from Zhejiang in November — a process that infuses the tea with the flower's characteristic honeyed warmth. The result is abundantly smooth, with aromas of honied apricot, toasty peach, nutmeg, and crushed acorn. It drinks like the first cool breath of autumn.

The Magnolia Oolong takes a different direction entirely. Built on a Jinxuan "Golden Lily" oolong from Fujian, harvested at 1,000 metres in May 2025 and intensively scented with magnolia blossoms from Guangxi, it is radiantly silky — creamy and floral, with bright notes of candied melon, papaya, and crisp pear. Where the Osmanthus Golden Tip is warm and contemplative, the Magnolia Oolong is luminous and alive, a bottling that genuinely evokes dewy springtime sunshine.

Both express something that is difficult to achieve and easy to recognize: a sense of place translated into flavour.

Susurrus Sparkling Tea

Tea as nature's functional beverage

Beyond the sensory experience, Wofford is deliberate about the functional dimension of what she's created. Tea's unique combination of caffeine and L-theanine — an amino acid with anti-anxiety properties — produces a state of calm, focused energy that has made it the meditative drink of choice for monks across centuries. It's stimulating without being jarring, soothing without being sedating. For consumers navigating questions of moderation, sobriety, or simply a desire for beautiful beverages that support their lifestyle, Susurrus offers something that wine and spirits categorically cannot.

Wofford describes tea as wine's "sober sister". A companion to the table that belongs there on its own terms, not merely as a concession to those who aren't drinking. That framing positions Susurrus not as an alternative for people who can't have wine, but as a choice for people who appreciate the same things wine offers: complexity, origin, craft, and the pleasure of pouring something worth paying attention to.

Built on a commitment to preservation

Susurrus is also a 1% For The Planet Business Member, committing one percent of annual sales — not profits — to environmental organisations. The ethos behind that membership is woven into the brand's philosophy: that preservation begins with appreciation. Tea is among the most ancient agricultural gifts humanity has cultivated. To drink it with attention and gratitude is, in a small but meaningful way, to honour the land and the traditions that produced it.

That same spirit of appreciation runs through everything Wofford has built. From carefully sourcing each tea garden, to the name she chose for her company, Susurrus asks you to slow down, pay attention, and listen. To the bubbles in your glass, to the story of where your tea came from, and to the conversation happening across the table.

Header image sourced from Susurrus Sparkling Tea.