The Calabash Tea & Tonic brand was created by fifth-generation master herbalist Sunyatta Amen

WHAT THE HECK IS A CALABASH ANYWAY?

A Calabash is a hanging gooseneck gourd (think sexier butternut squash). Wherever calabashes are found in the world, they're a sign of god fortune. Why? Because they are thought of as 'everything you need to live'.

Founded in 2009, our mission is to returning modern people to everything they need to thrive. Indigneous ways of healing mind, body and spirit. Calabash is DC's first and only Black-owned teahouse and retailers. We have been voted Washington City Paper's Best of DC 2010-2021 as well as Yelp and Google's highest rated business in the DMV for more than 10 years.

OUR FOUNDER

Calabash's Master Herbalist, Sunyatta Amen, was born to Cuban, Syrian-Jamaican and Native American parents. She grew up behind the counter of Black Pyramid, her parents' healthfood and herbal stores in Harlem. After spending decades under the tutelage of her herbalist great-grandmothers and other shaman, sharing Indigenous healingways became her passion.

Sunyatta's epynomous radio show ran Pacifica Networks for 16 years. She served as the wellness correspondent for The Baisden Show on ABC Radio Networks for 6 years. She has since shifed to TV and is a a frequent contributor FOX 5 Morning News and The ABC 7 Morning Show in DC. She is the host of Maroon's Medicine Chest on the Knarrative Network and is a weekly correspondent on the Karen Hunter Show on SiriusXM. Sunyatta is a frequesnt guest on NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Pacifica, ABC, and The Smithsonian Channel. Over the past 2 years she has been spotlighted by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Discovery Channel, Thrillist, Eater, Marie Claire, Essence.

Sunyatta has been a guest lecturer on ethnobotany, herbology and Indigenous Foodways at Harvard University, Hunter College of New York, Howard University School of Medicine, Bowie State University and University of DC.