It's hard to fathom that a ship captain's beverage of choice would be tea, but so it was, according to The Stash Tea Company. Stash says skippers once kept a private reserve or "stash" of tea for themselves in the days when the aromatic leaves were transported by sailing ship. Stash Tea offers more than 200 items, including black teas, flavored and spiced teas, herbal teas, and organic teas, as well as rare and exotic teas. Its customers include food stores, club stores, mass merchandisers, coffee and tea shops, and other dining venues in the US and Canada. Stash Tea started out in 1975 as a supplier of bulk tea and herbs to natural food stores and has seen its brand grow to become a familiar consumer product.