‘Shades’ Tea Bound to Get Little Steamy

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Paul McCartney’s stepmother might be 85 years old, but the L.A. organic tea business she runs is very much up to date with pop culture trends.

The latest flavor from Mrs. McCartney’s Teas is called 50 Shades of Earl Grey – inspired by steamy movie “Fifty Shades of Grey,” to be released Feb. 13.

“I called it that because I’m a naughty old bird and shameless about promotion, so with all the publicity for the film I thought I would jump on their bandwagon and sell loads for Valentine’s Day,” said Angie McCartney.

She’s been running the tea business out of her Playa del Rey home for the past six years and with less than $1 million in annual revenue it has been a long and winding road toward profitability.

Customers as far away as Austria have been placing online orders for the 11 different flavors of tea, which cost $11 for each packet of 18 and have Beatles-inspired names like Strawberry Green Fields.

“The McCartney name opens doors, but you need a good product to get repeat orders,” she said. “I personally taste each flavor from our Arizona supplier and, as a lifelong tea drinker, have high standards.”

Her strategy now is to expand the tea line. She wants to be in corporate gift bags, cafes and restaurants and she said talks are under way with interested parties, whom she won’t name. Even at 85, she has no exit strategy.

“I’m going to go on with this business until I drop. Each morning I open one eye, open the other, realize I’m still here and go and make a cup of tea,” she said.

She married Paul’s widowed dad, Jim, in 1964 and would always make cups of tea for her stepson when he returned home from being on the road with the Beatles. “Paul always loved a cuppa,” added Liverpool-born Angie. “English Breakfast Tea was his favorite and he even wrote a song called ‘English Tea’ a few years ago.” Angie McCartney moved to Los Angeles in 1994 with her daughter Ruth McCartney, a new-media entrepreneur who is chief executive of McCartney Multimedia and helps her with the tea business.

– Sandro Monetti

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