Mennonite farmer gets OK to market Hobbit Tea line

(RNS) Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” might want to fire up the kettle and get out their map of Middle-earth, that beloved world of wizards, dragons and hobbits created by the fantasy author. Time to pencil in Dalton, Ohio, first home of Hobbit Tea. This tiny village is where seven young Mennonite […]

(RNS) Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” might want to fire up the kettle and get out their map of Middle-earth, that beloved world of wizards, dragons and hobbits created by the fantasy author.

Time to pencil in Dalton, Ohio, first home of Hobbit Tea.

This tiny village is where seven young Mennonite and Amish workers are mixing and packaging teas, herbs and fruit into three new blends: Hobbiton Meadow Mint, Gandalf the Gray Tea and Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend.


Hobbit Teas, named for the peaceable diminutive characters in Tolkien’s books, recently went for sale exclusively online as hobbittea.com. The site got 300 hits from around the world within the first 24 hours.

“Within only four hours we heard from Norway, the U.K., Canada, Italy and the Netherlands,” said marketing director Kay Miller, who wears a blue calico dress and black kerchief to work. One order came from nuns in a Massachusetts convent.

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 all rights to the Tolkien works.

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.

“After some taste tests, we knew that Dan was on to something special. We wish him the best of luck and hope that Hobbit Tea finds its way into the mugs of tea drinkers everywhere.”


The Hobbit Tea idea dawned on him when he heard a movie of Tolkien’s 1937 book, “The Hobbit,” was headed for production. If sales take off with the release of the movie in the next year or two, Tropea said he could easily handle up to $1 million in business with the current equipment and staff.

Unlike his Amish workers, who said they haven’t read Tolkien’s works, Tropea enjoyed them in junior high on the recommendation of his father. He said he liked the lessons about doing what’s right in the face of great pressure. He also believes it’s not a stretch from Middle-earth to Amish Country, because both have tidy fences and farm fields.

“But I don’t have hairy feet,” Tropea said of a hobbit’s distinguishing feature.

“That’s because he shaved,” said his plant manager, Joe Swartzentruber.

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