A Special Delivery From Meghan Markle Instructs You to “Open With Care”

Last week, Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle brand As Ever released its first nine products on their website, about a month after some were featured in her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, and the entire collection sold out within an hour. Though some of the most anticipated products—including the raspberry preserves seen throughout the show and the brand’s wildflower honey—went quickly, Vanity Fair was able to get ahold of the brand’s peppermint, hibiscus, and lemon ginger tea.

When influencers and friends got their previews of the As Ever products over the last month, they have come along with notes from the duchess herself. In March, podcaster Amanda Hirsch shared a handwritten note from the duchess to her Instagram account, showing her arched penmanship. (On Sunday, Hirsch shared a photo of herself drinking the As Ever tea with the caption, “The @asever peppermint tea is a 10/10.”)

Though we knew that Meghan wouldn’t be signing every single box, her handwriting was an integral part of the As Ever experience. The order arrived in a plain white box emblazoned with the words “Open With Care” in a facsimile of the Duchess of Sussex’s calligraphic handwriting. Inside the package was a card featuring the As Ever logo on one side and a copy of a note from Meghan that read, “Enjoy—Meghan.” The champagne colored tissue paper was held together with a sticker featuring the brand’s hummingbird and palm tree logo, which garnered comparisons to the crest of a Spanish town, but was designed to make sure the shape was unique.

The tea sachets come in tins sealed with an As Ever sticker, and each flavor features a different personal note from Meghan, making references to the Montecito home she shares with Prince Harry and the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet of Sussex. On the peppermint tea, she writes that the “soothing and refreshing” tea is “easily the favorite tea in our home.” On the lemon ginger tea, she mentions that she has “been making a soothing tincture of lemon and ginger for many years,” adding that this tea blend makes the process “fuss-free.”

The hibiscus tea comes with a message to use it in the same way Meghan demonstrated in episode four of With Love, Meghan. “There is something magical about placing tea leaves in a mason jar outside and letting it steep in the warmth of the sun, as I enjoy doing with my children,” it reads. “With its delicate flavor and gorgeous color, this tea will become a beautiful tradition in your home.”

On With Love, Meghan, the duchess made her own sachets of hibiscus tea and set them outside to steep while she waiting for the episode’s guest, Delfina Figueras, to arrive. “Sun tea is something I’ve been making for a very long time. I made it when I was a kid and now I make it with my own kids,” she said. “As a kid, I was taking a bag of tea from the drawer and putting it in a mason jar or maybe an empty jar that once once held spaghetti sauce, and sitting there…waiting for it to change color. Which, funny enough, is what Archie does now.”

It’s unclear if the tea will be restocked on the As Ever website. Another release of the raspberry preserves is apparently still coming, otherwise the company said in a press release that they “will continue to evolve with new seasonal offerings inspired by Meghan’s personal essence.” More products will be released when the second season of With Love, Meghan premieres in the fall.

An active filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office might provide a glimpse into what Meghan and her team are planning for the next drop. In that application, filed last September, the brand stated its intent to use the trademark on home goods, bath products, candles, gardening tools, downloadable audio and video, jewelry, stationery, retail store services, and more.

In an interview with Inc., Meghan revealed that Netflix came on as a partner in the brand after she had already started working on its products, but that the partnership with the streamer’s Consumer Products Group helped to broaden her ambitions. “They have tremendous experience on licensing deals and turning brands and shows into really good products, like Bridgerton,” Meghan said. “The reach from Netflix, coupled with my vision for the brand, felt like it was going to be a really perfect match.”