© Mint Brook Meadow Teas, ltd. 2012 
 
 Welcome 
 
 Welcome to the World of H obbit T ea 
 
 A Line of Licensed Quailty Teas in the Spirit of The Hobbit and Middle-earth 

 "It must be getting near tea-time, leastways in decent places where there is still tea-time." -- Sam, a Hobbit in "The Lord of the Rings" Hobbit Tea Contact: hobbittea.com, or reach the manufacturer at 330-201-1058 and mintbrookmeadows.com. 
 
 Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The 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 Wayne County village near Wooster 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, went for sale exclusively online as hobbittea.com two weeks ago. 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 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. 
 
 "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." 
 
 "They could have given the rights to Lipton," speculated Tropea. Instead they gave them to a young man who formed his Mint Brook Meadow Tea Co. when his dairy farming profits nosedived. Tropea planted mint, harvested it and dried it like tobacco to preserve the maximum amount of flavor. Whole Foods Market, Acme and Zagara's Marketplace carry his Mint Brook products. 
 
 While he remains committed to farming and producing his own tea, he has increased his annual sales to $300,000 mainly by manufacturing tea for others. 
 
 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. He hired student artists from the Cleveland Institute of Art, including Yusef Abonamah, Albert McClelland and Daniel Farruggia, plus printers and packagers from across Ohio. 
 
 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.
– A 31-year-old Mennonite farmer has scored the rights to market a line of teas based on JRR Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit, and blends like Bilbo Baggins Breakfast Blend and Gandalf the Gray Tea are now available online—shipped directly from Middle-earth via Ohio. “We liked the small size of his operation,” a spokesman for Middle-earth Enterprises tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “and the organic approach to the cultivation of his tea resonated with us.”