Literary Teas - Mary Shelley's Green Tea Blend

Blender's Notes:

Best known as the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley was also an accomplished writer of poetry and travel writings, a skilled editor and a devoted wife and mother. Born in 1797 to Mary Wollstonecraft (a radical writer) and William Godwin (a political philosopher), Mary Shelley enjoyed an expansive education. She met the poet Percy Shelley in 1814 when she was 16, wed him in 1816 and was a widow before she turned 25.

The Shelley's traveled extensively in Europe often in the company of other writers. In the summer of 1816 the Shelley's, along with Lord Byron and a few others, were living in Lake Geneva, Italy. Bad weather prevented them from enjoying the great outdoors so Byron suggested a competition to see who could write the best ghost story. Mary's story, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, first written as a short story, would expand into a book that is still enjoyed worldwide and one that sparked a new genre of horror stories, films and plays.

Tea was an essential part of Mary and Percy's daily lives and it is recorded that they favored black tea that was sweetened. After learning of the plight of slaves on sugar cane plantations they boycotted sugar and, not liking unsweetened black tea, they switched to drinking plain green tea.

Since there are no references to tea in Mary's writings, the inspiration for this blend came from the green tea she enjoyed as well as popular foods and flavors found in countries they visited during the time of the writing of Frankenstein, namely blackberries and chocolate. We incorporated both into this green tea blend and added sweet blackberry leaf as a nod to Mary's sweet tooth.

This heavenly blend brews up to a golden color with a sweet fruit taste and an undertone of chocolate that will elevate your taste buds. Inspired by Shelley's eloquent words in Frankenstein, "I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven?"

Ingredients: green tea, *cacao nibs, sweet blackberry leaf, chocolate flavor, and blackberry flavor

*organic

Certified Kosher

Brew tea at 180º - steep for 2-3 minutes.

4 Ounces of loose tea makes approximately 50 cups of tea.

Some examples of Mary Shelley works:
Novels:

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
The Last Man
Valperga
Mathilda

Travel Book:

History of a Six Weeks' Tour Rambles in Germany and Italy

Children's literature
Short Stories
Poems

Check with your local bookstore or library for more titles or for recommendations for further reading.