Colonial Tea Collection

The Collections are 5 teas in corked glass tubes, displayed upright in a foundation of red cherry wood.

The Colonial Tea Collection includes 5 common teas of the 18th Century American Colonies.

Colonial Bohea (pronounced “Boo-hee” - Ukers 510), was by far the largest tea import during colonial times. Sometimes called Bohea Souchong or Lapsang Bohea, the blend originated in China with trade to the British and Dutch East India Companies. It was so popular that the word bohea became the slang term for tea. The blend varied wildly, consisting of broken orange pekoe, pekoe, and souchong dumped in a pile and then sifted, typically the scrap tea of lower quality leaves, but was considered high quality by the colonists.

Gunpowder Various grades of gunpowder tea were imported to the American colonies by the British East India Co. The tea is tightly rolled, then lightly roasted, giving it a dense, dark appearance. Witness the '“agony of the tea leaf” as the green gunpowder tea leaves slowly and fitfully unfurl in hot water.

Young Hyson Named for tea merchant Philip Hyson, Young Hyson was imported to colonial America by the British East India Tea Co. Young Hyson tea was highly prized and the tea tax was higher for Hyson than for other teas. It is created from green tea leaves, picked in Spring, then thinly rolled to have a long twisted appearance.

Peppermint Jonas Hanway, an 18th Century British author, derided the tea craze for its ‘sundry evils’ and extolled herbal tea as an alternative. Peppermint was first classified in 1753, and was grown in colonial American gardens. Peppermint produces a crisp and refreshing caffeine-free herbal tea.

Cacao Shell Tea Martha Washington enjoyed drinking cacao shell tea, which she made from roasted shells and sipped at breakfast. George Washington wrote to his agent, “she will, …thank you to get 20 lbs of the shells of Cocoa nuts, if they can be had of the chocolate makers.”

Hand Packaged by Oliver Pluff & Co. in Charleston, South Carolina