Talea Beer Co. started out with the aim to set a new standard in craft beer. Founders Tara Hankinson and LeAnn Darland shared a gripe with both the craft beer space and the beer industry at large: It mainly marketed to men. The pair has tried to upend those beer industry norms with Talea. Upon its 2019 debut, Hankinson and Darland were the first women to own a brewery in New York City. That remains true today.
Now available in bars, restaurants, retail stores, and across their five taprooms, Talea has gained traction beyond New York City in nearby states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The brewery flaunts a far reach, as evidenced by its coverage in major outlets like The New York Times, BBC, Forbes, and this very publication.
Talea launched with a steadfast commitment to uplifting women’s voices in business and it continues to move full steam ahead with that mission. Here are eight things to know about the craft brewery.
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The two founders met at a different beer start-up.
Hankinson and Darland encountered each other while working at Hopsy, a now-closed beer e-commerce company. There, Hankinson worked as the head of customer experience, and Darland served as the head of finance. When the two met, they discovered their mutual distaste for the male-driven marketing that overwhelmed the category. According to their brand’s website, Hankinson and Darland filed for Talea’s LLC within three months of their first contact.
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Talea’s lineup of beers includes names that range from fruity to savory to all-around zany.
Like other craft breweries, Talea offers a variety of beer styles, such as sour ales, IPAs, lagers, saisons, and others. But the brewery stands out against its competitors with playful flavors, names, and designs. Most of its offerings are fruity with names such as “Peach Berry Punch,” “Key Lime Pie Tart Deco,” “Watermelon Splash,” and “Raspberry Crunch.” Other product titles like “Al Dente” and “Lunch Date” lean toward savory. Some of its options don’t refer to taste at all and, instead, call to sensations (“Cashmere Crewneck”) or activities (“Cartwheel”).
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It operates five taprooms in NYC …
After launching its cans in 2019, Talea opened its first taproom in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in March 2021. The brewery has since added four other locations across the city in Cobble Hill, the West Village, Bryant Park, and the Penn District. Talea’s five taprooms all opened within three years — a large feat for a small business operating across two boroughs.
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… and all were designed by female architects.
Talea commissioned Sarah Carpenter & Studio — a woman-owned architecture firm that has built some of the city’s buzziest bars and restaurants — to design the facade and interior of its two Brooklyn locations. Subsequently, the woman- and minority-owned ALA Studio designed Talea’s three taprooms in Manhattan.
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Talea has collaborated with other popular female-owned food and beverage brands …
Hankison and Darland attribute much of Talea’s rapid growth to brand partnerships, the pair told Ad Age. Their biggest collaborations were ones with Fishwife — a tinned fish brand — and Olipop. The craft brewery teamed up with Fishwife in 2023 to release a Super Smoky Lager inspired by the seafood brand’s wildly popular smoked fish. Within a span of weeks, Talea also partnered with Olipop, a powerhouse in the functional soda space. Together, they released a Strawberry Vanilla Cream Ale, blending Olipop’s fan-favorite Strawberry Vanilla flavor with Talea’s beer expertise. Both collabs debuted with a party celebrating the partnership at Talea’s Williamsburg flagship brewery.
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… and a female-owned razor company.
Beyond partnerships in the food and beverage sector, Talea collaborated with Flamingo, a hair and body care company geared toward women, with the aim of reinventing the shower beer. As part of the program, a suctioned shower beer caddy meant to stick onto a bathroom wall came with the purchase of a Flamingo razor. Talea’s partnership with Flamingo reinforced the company’s commitment to empowering women: Flamingo is also a female-owned business.
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One owner is a Navy veteran.
Talea highlights its status as “female-owned,” but “veteran-owned” joins it on the list of modifiers. Though Darland now co-runs the craft brewery, her passion for beer began while in the U.S. Navy. She served for five years as a signals intelligence officer off the coasts of Iraq and Iran before moving to San Diego, her last duty station. There, Darland lived just a few blocks from a craft taproom — and as she tells it, that taproom is where her love for beer began.
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‘Talea’ is a portmanteau of the founders’ names.
Talea’s “About” page ends with the sentence, “Oh, and it’s pronounced tah-lay-uh.” But what the title means is less certain. Talea is a portmanteau of the founders’ first names Tara (“Ta” and LeAnn (“lea”), they told VinePair.
