Growing up in India, Harpreet Sangha has fond memories of accompanying her grandmother to buy garam masala, a northern Indian spice blend that’s added to almost every dish. Sangha remembers her grandmother talking about her family’s health with the vendor so he could customize their blend.
“Depending on if we had runny noses or if it was winter, he would make a different blend of spice,” Sangha said.
Start your tea ritual
Find Hapi Nani at the Route One Farmers Market. To place an order or sign up for the tea subscription service, visit hapinani.com. Email info@hapinani.com with questions.
To take full advantage of the spices’ natural remedies, the vendor made the blend a little different every time, and the same was done with teas.
“I didn’t realize how nostalgic I felt, like I could smell the shop. I was there,” she said, remembering a time when she told the anecdote to a friend. “This is why I named it Hapi Nani.”
Her company, Hapi Nani, is a combination of Sangha’s nickname Happy, from Harpreet, and nani, meaning grandmother in Punjabi. The spice and tea company began in the winter of 2023, when Sangha ordered herbs to make her own spices because the ones she found in stores weren’t cutting it.
“I went to five different stores in Santa Maria. I couldn’t find one,” she said. “Then I found one. It didn’t smell fresh. So, I made my own blend.”
Sangha realized if she had trouble finding authentic spices, other people probably did too. This lack led her to concoct a batch of spice blends to sell at a craft market in Old Orcutt.
They sold out.
As the business grew, Hapi Nani products made their way into grocery stores and small businesses from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo. Sangha also sells her goods at farmers markets in Santa Maria and Lompoc and enjoys talking with customers the way she remembers her grandmother talking to her spice vendor.
Though spice blends are how Sangha started, she’s more passionate about Hapi Nani’s loose-leaf teas, which are the more popular products, too. As opposed to tea bags, the loose-leaf option is fresher with a better flavor. Plus, tea bags may contain microplastics that are released in the hot water.
“I keep telling everybody, once you start drinking loose-leaf tea, there’s no going back,” the business owner said.
Admittedly, preparing loose-leaf tea is a bit more involved than steeping a tea bag, Sangha explained, which is why she also sells mugs with infusers and a strainer to make the process easier. By offering the right tools, Sangha said she wanted to give customers a practical, convenient way to drink tea.
It all starts with Sangha finding the right ratio of ingredients. Part of her creativity stems from her career in food science, the subject of a graduate program that brought her to the U.S. in 2003. A decade later, she moved to Santa Maria and now works in product development consulting when she’s not busy with Hapi Nani.
Formulating a product is key when selling it to customers. The food scientist learned that without an appealing flavor, nobody will buy a product despite the health benefits. Sangha uses her scientific background to determine which herbs will render the intended functionality, like brain health or relaxation, and then she tweaks the recipe to find the best taste.
Drinking tea as a daily ritual was part of how Sangha grew up in India. Today, she starts her mornings with a cup of Refresh and Renew or Focuswave. At night, she usually drinks Blossom, a calming herbal blend with chamomile, lavender, rose, and orange peel. Focuswave and Blossom were Hapi Nani’s two original teas.
“Blossom helped me sleep, and when I started drinking Focuswave, I was like, ‘Oh. My brain shuts down,’” she said, comparing the effects of coffee—which made her mind race—to her tea.
Her best-selling herbal tea is Minty Hibiscus, naturally sweetened with stevia leaves. Hibiscus is good for heart health and hypertension, she explained. It also makes a tasty iced tea.
For a burst of caffeine, Hapi Nani offers a handmade blend called Royal, which is Sangha’s take on chai. She also sells other classic black and green teas that she sources from a California manufacturer. Most of the herbs come from India, China, and Japan because of their optimal growing climates.
As the only employee for now, Sangha looks forward to growing Hapi Nani and turning more people on to her loose-leaf teas.
“I’m at a stage where I have proven the concept now, and I really enjoy it,” she said. “I do like health and wellness, and I do like the products. It also makes me feel part of the community.”
Staff Writer Madison White may be brewing up some Blossom tonight. Email mwhite@santamariasun.com to ask her how it was.
This article appears in January 15 – January 22, 2026.