Erik Peterson

Erik Peterson is an accomplished artist.  A senior at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, he will graduate in May of this year, but rather than pursuing his craft  in the more traditional fields of the post-graduate art world such as illustration or teaching, Peterson has chosen a very different path.

Fascinated by the tea-making process since a young age, Peterson has formed a company called Thorn Tea with the goal of building a traveling  tea-cart that he can, “Bring out of a trailer alongside a road, in the city, at a farmer’s market.”  He plans not only to sell cups of his own freshly-brewed, hand-blended tea from the cart but also to sell the tea itself.

Sketch by Erik Peterson.

Peterson’s aspirations, however, go far beyond the sheer financial side of the business.  He explains that the mission of Thorn Tea is, “to bring strangers together over a cup of tea,” or as he puts it another way, “to re-establish personal communications between people through tea.”  Peterson feels strongly that people have what he describes as, “such small circles,” and asks rhetorically, “Why not extend them through tea?”

Peterson is currently working to raise seed capital for his business through Indiegogo.com, which is, according to the company’s website, “a platform [used] to raise millions of dollars for all types of campaigns.”  The Thorn Tea  campaign is open through Thursday, March 20, and readers can contribute directly to Peterson’s project at this link, where Peterson has created a mini-website with extensive information about his plans.

Although his future is in tea, Peterson’s skills as an artist are not going unused.  He has designed all the company’s promotional materials, including its attractive logo, and is also working on the construction specifications of his tea-cart concept.

Thorn Tea packaging features Erik Peterson’s original designs.

Peterson, who says he has been making tea since “around the age of 14,” blends and packages his teas himself:  he has a variety of organic blends with exotic names like Morning Mint and Queen of Wild Flowers, along with the more traditional Chai.  Sales of his teas have been growing steadily among family and friends, but Thorn Tea is his first foray into the business world.

Driven by the idea of the old-fashioned tea-house, where, in his words, there is, “community, support and love,” Peterson is passionate about bringing “that ritual back into everyone’s lives,” and giving people the opportunity to “break down the barriers” that are keeping them from communicating effectively, thus “bringing people together again” — and all through the medium of Thorn Tea.

Editor’s Note: For more information about Thorn Tea or to donate to Peterson’s project, visit http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/thorn-tea–2

Click here to see more art by Erik Peterson.