Mystic Plants at House of Waris

A multi hyphenated impresario who slips easily between fashion week, jaunts in Delhi and European experiences, Ahluwalia, has now been churning out wonderful teas under the brand House of Waris since 2007.
Pre-pandemic, House of Waris was all about building community through plant-based dinner clubs, cooking and mixology classes, secret midnight movie screenings, and zero-proof cocktail parties

In November, the company opened its flagship Botanical Lab and Botanical Bar in Chelsea: a cozy space located behind a brick wall through a Manhattan courtyard. While the Botanical Bar offers alcohol-free cocktails, the Lab serves botanical beverages including tea, matcha, and kombucha; a trained herbalist, meanwhile, creates custom-made blends for clients. And while both are temporarily closed due to the pandemic, you can still shop House of Waris’ own tea-blends online.

He finds the simple idea that stress and trauma can be better managed with plants to be normal. It is an idea that is gaining ground in trendy hubs around the world like Brookyln and Los Angeles. In fact many medical practitioners from across the healing, mind-body spectrum are also now focussing on routines of self-care as both smart and social.
The way Waris puts it in his charismatic way– you’re immediately on board with the power of herb and tea drinking, seems so obviously chic and understated in his presence.

“Tea has been connecting people for centuries,” he declares emphatically. “In every indigenous culture across the planet, tea has always served a purpose,”says Ahluwalia, who was born in Punjab, India, and moved to the U.S. with his family at five years old.

He continues,“It was a way to bond and a way to heal. It can do the same for us today. Allow us a chance to pause. To slow down. It’s a non-digital solution, not one on a screen, but filling up your cup. It comes from the planet that has the ability to nourish us, if we in turn look after the planet.”

On this point The Together Project could not agree more strongly.It’s time for humans to care for the earth the way the earth has been caring for humans. For this reason we wanted to ask the House of Waris founder if slowing down is a strategic way to speed up, and to help us cope in these strange pandemic times.

“Our innovation is to give access to the ancient sciences and reframe the knowledge to be applicable to our modern-day lives. Everything has been formulated and created as a recipe to be delicious.” “Slowing down is part of the celebration. That’s a celebration of you. A celebration of your time on this planet. It’s how you look after yourself. It’s how you look after your loved ones. It’s how you look after your community,” he insists.

The Together Project is impressed with the thought and attention to detail that goes into the creation of these beautiful teas at House of Waris and are proud to share the whole collection with our community.