The story of There & Back Again starts with something that felt hopeful that turned into a sad that shifted into something reclaimed with the help of good friends and good reviews.
When I sat down to write this up today my mind started with the first sequence of the story of this tea – the part with the bitter and the disappointment and the connections to things now gone. And I started to write words about it, in my head.
A few sentences in and I heard the voice of a good friend lending me some advice and then there was a scrap of a Beyonce lyric and I realized that the beginning of this tea’s story is not the important part of the story.
The important part of the story is that this tea got a second chance out in the world, and I discovered that I was not the only person who thought it was a good and tasty blend of tea.
Tolkien’s work has gifted me a great many things, from the lines that will spring to mind at random to the works inspired or touched by his own to this strange little Discord I was smuggled into that is full of found family and the kinds of friends that offer you a space in their digital pillow fort or will help you to build one when needed.
(Tea has also brought me into contact with some of those sorts of people – so having a fandom collide with tea in the process of that sort of connection may not be surprising, but that doesn’t change that it is a gift that I am well thankful for.)
There & Back Again was originally conceptualized as my version of an Irish Breakfast. Research went into selecting the teas that I use to blend it – and I do think it is a start-of-the-morning or in-the-thermos-for-the-day type of tea. Especially as it is relatively forgiving of over-steeping.
In the end, there were 3 contenders for the name of this tea, and they all referenced Tolkien or Found Family in one way or another – There & Back Again won the vote, and at least one of the others will resurface at a later time as a different tea.
And I like that the name of this tea references a journey that was full of Just So Much on So Many Levels with the prize being the friends made along the way 1 – because the journey of the tea itself mirrors it in not particularly subtle ways.
Now for the basics:
Organic Ingredients: Assam Breakfast Tea, Ceylon Tea
Batch Size: 2.7 oz, 76g, 30+ servings of tea
Options: Loose Tea (5 serving sample (Bag or Tin), Full Batch (Bag or Tin), LatchTin), Teabags (Single Teabag, 5 serving sample (Bag or Tin), Full Batch (Bag), LatchTin)
