Not long ago, my Harney Through the Decades blog shared the story of Harney & Sons’ origins, when my dad, John Harney, learned the tea business from English expat Stanley Mason, then started Harney & Sons tea out of his home’s basement in 1983.
There’s been a lot of tea-filled water under the bridge since then, but we’re just as much of a family business now as we’ve ever been. Even more so, these days even the sons in “Harney & Sons” have sons!
Today, I’d like to give you a closer look at the current crop of Harneys, tell you a little bit about what each one of us does here, and even what our favorite teas are (at the moment, anyway. In my experience, there’s always a new tea to discover and love).
Elyse Harney
1st Generation
President
Let’s start with our Harney & Sons president, the matriarch of the Harney clan (or, as I like to call her, Mom). Born in North Bergen, New Jersey, Elizabeth G. “Elyse” Deublein graduated from Brooklyn’s St. Joseph’s University in 1952. Much to the delight of Elyse and our entire family, St. Joseph’s invited Mom back this year to be their 2026 commencement speaker!
Elyse went on to do graduate studies at Columbia University and marry John Harney in February 1953. Besides being the literal co-founder of four Harney sons (plus a Harney daughter), Elyse co-founded the Harney & Sons company in 1983.
Not long after, she earned her real estate license and founded Elyse Harney Real Estate (EHRE) in 1987. Besides paying the household bills while Dad got the tea business up and running, Mom’s business grew quickly and has since become a top-tier real estate agency across the tri-state region of Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts.
By the way, my sister, Elyse Harney Morris, joined EHRE in 2005 and is now the firm’s lead broker and owner. Her husband, Scott, is an Operating Broker with the agency, and now their daughter, Brittany, is an employee as well, adding yet another family generation. (Granted, none of this has anything to do with tea, but I figured I’d better mention it now so Elyse doesn’t kick me under the table at Thanksgiving dinner.)
As for my mother’s favorite teas, she’s got a whole collection of them, as you’ll see when you visit Elyse Harney’s Selects. Lately, in the morning, she’s been preferring Dragon Pearl Jasmine, Angiogenesis Foundation Green Tea, or Japanese Sencha (a favorite of my dad’s, as well), although she enjoys oolongs in the afternoon, and typically ends her day with either Jasmine Tea, Yellow & Blue, or Chamomile (a tisane Dad brought her for years).
Mike Harney
2nd Generation
Vice President & Master Tea Buyer
Hey, that’s me! After I graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Hospitality Management and Hotel Administration, I ran the Richmont Hotel in Chicago before joining my dad’s tea company in 1988. These days, besides being a company Vice President, I’m Harney & Sons’ Master Tea Buyer and blender. That means I do a lot of traveling, meeting tea producers all over the world to find the best teas for our customers.
Like my dad, I’m also a published author, having written The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea back in 2008. That book was inspired by my experience as our official tea taster, sampling hundreds and hundreds of different teas.
Ironically, it’s that very same tasting experience that makes it hard for me to narrow my favorite teas down to one. What I can tell you is that I love any great tea that expresses the natural environment it’s grown in (what we call “terroir”), and you’ll find some of those teas in my online collection, Mike Harney’s Selects.
Brigitte Harney
2nd Generation
Manager & Buyer
Born in Suresnes, France, my wife, Brigitte, first came to the Connecticut area in 1977 to work as an au pair. While visiting a friend of her mother’s, she happened to meet the Harney family. Later, when I was in France on an internship, Brigitte and I reconnected. The rest, as they say, is history.
You might guess that Brigitte’s favorite tea is Brigitte’s Blend (a blend of silvery Ceylon and tippy, full-leaf Assam). Occasionally you’d be right about that, although she’s also a fan of our Supreme Breakfast tea (which features tippy Assam, plus Hao Ya ‘B’ Keemun). But truly, Brigitte’s choice depends upon her mood and the weather. These days, in fall, she might reach for Panyang Congou or Thai Rooibos (and then, when the weather warms, prefer a 1st Flush Darjeeling, such as our Teesta Valley 1st Flush).
Paul Harney
2nd Generation
Vice President
Paul Harney, my younger brother and our firm’s other Vice President, is a true innovator. Always on the lookout for new ideas, Paul is responsible for our line of organic ready-to-drink teas and juices, as well as our pyramid sachet packaging, which offers the convenience of a tea bag in a larger container that holds whole-leaf tea and allows better flow of water around the leaves.
Paul was also a driving force behind The Hemp Division, Harney & Sons’ brother company (I was there too) that we started in 2018 to combine our experience in premium botanicals with the growing world of legalized hemp.
So far as a favorite tea goes, my brother’s about as hard to pin down as I am. But we can get a pretty good idea of his likes from browsing the Paul Harney’s Selects page. Plus, I happen to know that he’s a particular fan of our Horchata tea: a blend of milky oolong, toasted rice, and cinnamon bark that reflects Paul’s love for all things Mexican.
Emeric Harney
3rd Generation
Marketing Director
My son Emeric was born in Chicago the year before I came home to join Harney & Sons, and his work in the tea industry started early. When he was around four years old, he was already peeling stickers for other people to put on tea tins, and when he was 11 or 12, he started working at our retail shop, doing everything from gift wrapping to ringing up sales.
Later, he started doing his own blending, creating such popular brews as Apple Cinnamon and White Christmas. In 2010, he opened our SoHo store and made that a success. Around 2016, he moved into doing marketing for our company and has been a great asset to us there. Overall, Emeric wears a lot of hats for us, touching everything from product development to brand management to tea buying.
Emeric’s favorite tea? Like many other Harneys, that’s subject to change. You’ll find a lot of his tried-and-true go-tos on our Emeric Harney’s Selects page. But right now, he likes a cup of Matcha iri Genmaicha in the morning, or Panyang Congou in the afternoon.
Alex Harney
3rd Generation
Content Director & Café Directo
Ask my oldest son, Alex, what his earliest childhood memories are, and he’ll tell you a story of working alongside my dad as they blended Earl Grey together, soaking cotton balls with bergamot oil and laying them down in the tea leaves. Later, when he was about 12, Alex started helping Brigitte at our retail store, conducting tea tastings and doing other jobs. Later, when the store moved to Millerton around 2005, we opened a restaurant. As founder and executive chef of our Millerton Café, Alex has created recipes for everything from soups to sandwiches to desserts. As if that isn’t enough of an outlet for his creativity, he also serves as Harney & Sons’ director of film and photography.
When asked to name a favorite tea, Alex (who also has an online collection of favorite teas: Alex Harney’s Selects) has a soft spot for lightly oxidized oolongs, such as our Dong Ding Light, Wenshan Baozhong, Ali San Oolong, Qing Ti Quan Yin, and Genmaicha.
That’s All of Us. For Now.
Well, there you have it: the current crop of Harneys. Of course, families have a way of growing. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the tea business, it’s that there’s always something new and unexpected around the corner. Maybe in a few years, I’ll be updating this blog to introduce you to our next generation!
In the meantime, we’ll keep on sourcing, sampling, blending, and sharing some of the best teas the world has to offer to make your everyday a little more exceptional.
