Celebrating the Boston Tea Party 250 Years Later

This Saturday, December 16, 2023, will mark the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, an event described as “the most magnificent movement of all” by John Adams.

To celebrate, we have created a special tea, Boston Tea Party Blend, a blend of oolong and black tea that is strong, full-bodied, smooth, and malty—a tea the colonists would have loved. This blend would work wonderfully as a breakfast tea option, with or without milk and sugar. We are offering this tea at 25% off though December 20th!

What Was the Boston Tea Party?

Why did the colonists decide to caffeinate the Boston Harbor? The colonists were already growing angry with British rule. The Empire had taxed the colonies heavily to account for debts it had accrued during wars fought in the New World. The colonists protested “taxation without representation.” Colonial merchants, including prominent revolutionary figures like Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry, and Paul Revere formed the Sons of Liberty to protest British taxation and rule.

Tensions heightened with the Townshend Act of 1767, which taxed essentials, including tea. Most of the taxes were eventually repealed except for the tea tax. Although taxes were reduced, the tea would still be taxed once it was unloaded at port. By then, the Bostonians wanted no part of the tea from Britain’s East India Company, opting instead for smuggled tea from colonial merchants. The Sons of Liberty protested the upcoming shipments of tea. They held a vote to turn away the East India Company’s ships to avoid the taxes. Boston’s British governor ignored the colonists and ordered that the ships be unloaded and tax paid.

That night, a little over 100 people (many believed to belong to the Sons of Liberty) donned Native American dress and boarded the ship. They tossed 342 chests full of tea into the harbor, destroying about 45 tons of tea!

Response from Britain was severe, and they enforced the Coercive Acts and placed Boston under martial law. This served as a catalyst to unite the colonies in their resolve to separate from British rule.

Teas Overboard! What Teas Were Tossed?

Benjamin Woods Labaree’s The Boston Tea Party lists the contents of the ships raided as 240 chests of Bohea, 15 of Congou, 10 of Souchong, 60 of Singlo, and 15 of Hyson.

Bohea is a black tea. The name derives from an English pronunciation of China’s Wuyi Mountains, where the tea is sourced. It was a common tea made from blending broken leaves of typically lesser-quality teas. It was strong and mineral, often with a smoky note.

Congou was a higher-quality black tea. It typically consisted of full leaves and had a bold, smooth, and malty flavor with a reddish-brown color. For an example, try our Keemun Single Malt or Keemun Hao Ya.

Souchong translates to “small leaf,” referring to the tea cultivar grown in Fujian. Unlike the Lapsang Souchong of today, the teas consumed in the 1700s would have a very light smoky aroma that was a result of how the teas were processed. The Lapsangs of today (like our Russian Caravan) have intentionally enhanced the smoky flavor by scenting the teas with pine smoke for their signature flavor.

Hyson got its name as it was confused with the English name of an East India Company director and the Chinese word yu-tsien, which means “before the rains” and signifies when the teas were harvested. So while this green tea was an early spring harvest, it could originate from different areas and styles. It usually was young leaves that were rolled and had a curly appearance, like our Golden Mountain Green.

Singlo green tea was not commonly consumed. The tea company had a large surplus and was hoping it would gain a market in the colonies.

Truth be told, teas consumed in the colonial era would be shunned by most tea drinkers today. The colonists really should have been more offended by the quality of the tea from the British! Tea took a long time to ship from China, and it would arrive in Britain before making its way to colonial markets—well past its prime. (The colonists preferred loose-leaf tea over bricks, which would have aged better.)

Our recommendations are similar in style to what would have been consumed at the time, only tastier!

Did You Know? These Boston Tea-bits May Surprise You

• The colonists drank about 1.2 million pounds of tea each year before the tea tax.
• The cost of the tea that was thrown overboard would have been worth about $2 million today.
• Prominent founding fathers Samuel Adams and John Hancock had successful tea-smuggling operations.
• Interestingly, the Tea Act of 1773, which the colonists were protesting, lowered the total tax on tea and allowed colonists to buy tea at half the price paid by British consumers. The legislation was designed to financially aid the East India Company by granting it a monopoly on tea in the colonies, bypassing the independent colonial shippers and merchants. Colonists were even paying more for smuggled tea (provided by prominent members of the Sons of Liberty).
• The Sons of Liberty, many whose businesses were directly affected by the Tea Act of 1773, continued to rally popular support by fighting taxation without representation and maintaining control over their own commercial ventures.
• The colonies preferred loose-leaf tea to tea bricks. And tea bags would not be invented for another 150 years!
• Green tea accounted for 30% of the total value of the tea that was tossed.
•  Not everyone condoned the rebellious display. Elites like George Washington and Ben Franklin greatly opposed the destruction of anyone’s personal property and believed that East India Company should be reimbursed. The British response rather than the act itself was what united the colonies.
• There was a second Boston Tea Party, granted at a much smaller scale. And it inspired copycat demonstrations in New York, Maryland, and South Carolina.
•  Many of the tea partiers’ identities remained a secret well after the colonies gained independence for fear of civil charges as well as losing status with elite society members who disapproved of the act.
•  It wasn’t known as the “Boston Tea Party” until 50 years later. It was previously referred to as the much less catchy “destruction of the tea.” A newspaper first called it the Boston Tea Party in 1826. 

Lasting Legacy

This event affected more than just the political landscape of the budding American country. It also shifted the population’s beverage preference from tea to coffee.

On the precipice of the American Revolution and for a decade after, tea was seen as a “traitor’s drink,” labeled unpatriotic, and quickly fell out of favor. Colonists had to get their caffeine fix elsewhere. Enter coffee. (After the boycott of tea and anti-British sentiment settled down, Americans had already developed a taste for coffee.)

Coffee is still the hot beverage of choice for most Americans. Coffee is consumed daily by 66% of Americans according to Statista Consumer Insights. We are now starting to see an uptick in interest in hot tea by Americans. Why not try some delicious teas steeped in American history?