: I am no botanist, but suppose that if you can grow water melons and oranges, maybe you can grow tea. The world's finest tea comes from Darjeeling which is way up in the Indian Himalayas and not exactly a tropical climate.

: I think the Hobbits were quite capable of building glasshouses. They were good farmers and gardeners, and had plate-glass windows (or so all illustartions inkluding Tolkien's own would have us believe)

And too, we have no idea what kind of tea it is. White willow bark can be steeped in hot water and it has certain pain-reducing properties (probably something Frodo wouldn't have minded). And white willows aren't tropical at all. We know there were willows nearby because of Old Man Willow. You can chew the stuff (yuck) and it will act like a light aspirin. Almost any kind of bark or herb can be steeped and made into tea, and some can be quite delightful. Thistles can be boiled into a tea or a soup and you can actually live off of them for a while. More likely, the tea was local.

-RR