The Cleveland Plain Dealerreports that a Mennonite mint farmer in Dalton, Ohio has obtained a license from Middle-earth enterprises for his Mint Brook Meadow tea company to start selling a line of Hobbit teas.
Dan Tropea, a 31-year-old Mennonite mint farmer and tea packager, started the Hobbit Tea label soon after he acquired the license from Middle-earth Enterprises, part of the Saul Zaentz Co., holder of nerchandising rights to the "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."
Getting the license was a five-year quest that Tropea details, at times, with the drama of the hobbits' attempts to keep a magical ring safe from evildoers. After being pitched about the cliffs of the legal landscape during years of corporate acquisitions, Tropea located the right executives and shipped them some tea. It worked.
"We liked the small size of his operation," Middle-earth spokesman Sam Benson said in an e-mail, "and the organic approach to the cultivation of his tea resonated with us.
The article says the farmer is already taking orders from all over the world for the Hobbit tea. The Hobbit tea comes in three blends: Hobbiton Meadow Mint, Gandalf the Gray Tea and Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend. All the teas can be purchased online at hobbittea.com.
