MENTHE SOLEIL

Behind every great work of art there is a story that served to inspire the artist. This intricately crafted artisan tea is no exception. Like many painters, sculptors and writers before him, the artist who first twisted fresh green leaf into Menthe Soleil Flower tea, found his muse in classical mythology. What is interesting is that he, or she, chose to find inspiration in the mythology of the West, rather than the East. (But you know how these artistic tea types operate, always thinking outside the chest!)

According to classical mythology, the god Pluto became enamored with a young nymph named Mintha. So passionate was his scandalous love for the beautiful nymph that he began to completely ignore his wife. So passionate was his wife's dislike of the nymph that she turned the young Mintha into a plant. This plant of course is the one we now know as mint. Mintha... mint... the beauty of the Nymph transformed into the sweetly scented leaves.

As the story of the tea goes, a young Yunnan artisan fell in love with a local village girl. Since he was already in an arranged marriage, he knew that to be with her was impossible. Fearing his wife's wrath after speaking to the maiden, the young man decided he must never venture past her house again. Instead, he created a tea to remember her by. He used flower blossoms to represent the dawning of love, and mint its subsequent scorning as told in the ancient myth. These he tied in with still damp green tea leaves, so that a representation of his love might hide within their tight folds as they dried. And so through artistic inspiration, Menthe Soleil flower tea was born. A wonderful story for a fabulous brew -pour yourself a cup and as the delicate grassy flavors, floral touches and minty highlights pass your tongue, ponder scandalous, forbidden love.