The record books of General Philip Schuyler confirms his purchase of bohea tea, which is a smoky blend of tea. The image on the front of the canister is the Schuyler bookplate. The Tontine Coffee House and Hotel in Albany, NY was built in 1798 and considered a favorite haunt of politicians such as Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Governor De Witt Clinton.
The Colonial Blend and Bourbon Vanilla are examples of coffees that would have been found in the Unites States after the Boston Tea Part. Americans from the late 18th century would have traded with the East Indies, Haiti, and Jamaica for their new favorite beverage.
Pinhead Gunpowder tea - so named because of how the leaves curl during the drying process which gives them the appearance of gunpowder
Cacao Tea, chocolate shell infusion - a favorite of Martha Washington, who would drink cacao tea at breakfast
From the collection at Colonial Williamsburg, VA
The smaller canisters shown here are teas that would have been thrown overboard during the Boston Tea Party, 1773 - Lapsang Souchong, Yunwu Cloud, and China Young Hyson. The copper pot is a hot chocolate pot.
Following the French Indian War (1754 - 1763), Britain looked to the American colonies to pay for the cost by enacting multiple new taxes. This was met with outrage from the colonists. For example, the Stamp Act Congress from New York sought to nullify all British-derived laws over the colonies. In response, Britain repealed the 1764 Sugar Act and 1765 Stamp Act; however, in 1766, Britain passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that Britain had “full power and authority” over the Colonies.
After a shift in power in Parliament, critics of the repeal of the earlier taxes brought about the enactment of the Townshend Acts, starting in 1767, named for Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend whose task it was to oversee the issue of taxing the American colonies. These acts started by shutting down the New York assembly for its refusal to comply with the 1765 Quartering Act, which required Americans to house and pay for British soldiers. Other taxes were levied on glass, paper, and tea. These taxes led to further protest, published criticism that circulated throughout America, and a finding by the Massachusetts House of Representatives that the Act was unconstitutional. The Virginia House of Burgess also passed a resolution stating that Britain had no right to tax Americans without their consent.
Americans continued to rebel against the increase in taxation and British troops occupying the colonies. These actions by the British government were considered by the colonists to be in violation of the charters that created the colonies and unjust because they made Americans unequal those living in Britain, even though the colonists were British citizens themselves. The Homespun Movement began in 1767 in Boston, encouraging colonists to boycott importation of British fabrics. (Americans had been barred from exporting wool goods in 1699 and were forced to rely upon British imports for their clothing needs.) All British imports were eventually boycotted.
Skirmishes between British troops and Americans also took place during this period of unrest, including the Battle of Golden Hill in New York City (Jan. 19, 1770) when British soldiers cut down a Liberty Pole (a flag pole raised in protest of British suppression of American rights). No one was killed in this incident. Boston was not as fortunate. An eleven-year-old boy was killed by a customs official during an incident in February 1770, and five Bostonians were killed and another six wounded at what became widely-publicized as the “Boston Massacre” (Mar. 05, 1770).
On April 12, 1770, the Townshend Acts were repealed by a new British minister, Lord North. This repeal, however, did not end the tax on tea.
In 1772, the East Indian Company, which oversaw the British colonies in India, faced bankruptcy (due to scandal and corruption) and appealed to the British government to intercede. Parliament responded by passing the Tea Act on May 10, 1773. This act abolished taxation on tea for those living in Britain while leaving the tea tax in place for Americans. Americans responded with protests that included blocking ships carrying British-imported tea from landing in American ports not just in Boston but New York City, Philadelphia, and Providence. The most famous example is the Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16, 1773) which saw three British ships seized and approximately 90,000 pounds of tea dumped into Boston’s harbor.
As an alternative to drinking tea, following the Boston Tea Party, Americans turned to coffee. The first coffeehouse in America was the London Coffee House, opened in Boston in 1689. The first coffeehouse in New York was The King’s Arms, established in 1696. By 1773, coffee seedlings had circulated the globe and were grown in multiple parts of the world. Added to the British tea boycotts, this made coffee a highly valuable commodity. Thus, coffee - a luxury once enjoyed by only the wealthy - became America’s choice beverage, and anyone who drank tea thereafter was viewed as being a Loyalist.