Tea In America

(Check back often to read about the significance of tea in various cultures throughout the world.)

With a coffee shop on every corner in America, the casual visitor might think that Americans just don’t like tea and never have. They would be wrong. In fact, tea has played a major role in the shaping of the United States, and at least one, if not two, major tea developments have originated here.

In 1773, the American colonists were great tea drinkers. In fact, legend has it that one small town enjoyed tea so much that more tea was consumed there then in all of Britain! (You might have heard of this small town – it’s now called New York City.)

But the colonists were not so enamored of the rules set down by the British government. In particular, a large tax on tea coming into the American harbors set off a rebellion against what the colonists referred to as taxation without representation. To protest these taxes, a group of men disguised themselves as native Americans, boarded ships in the harbor, and dumped the tea into the water, creating perhaps the biggest Tea Party ever held in Boston to this day! Thus began the stirrings of the American Revolution and eventual formation of the United States of America.

For some time after this event, it was considered quite unpatriotic to drink tea, and coffee began to gain favor. Only in the last couple of decades has tea begun to see a resurgence of popularity in the U.S.

But even during these slower years, the U.S. did mange to contribute to the growth of the tea industry. For example, in 1904 at the World’s Fair in St Louis a tea vendor, discouraged by trying to sell hot tea in the sweltering Missouri sun, poured his tea over ice and, voila! Iced Tea was born! Another invention credited to an American was the lowly teabag. Although some would argue this had a negative effective by encouraging lower quality teas, in general it was a positive invention as the convenience of the bag encouraged many people to try tea who otherwise would not.

Today the United States is one of the world's major importers of tea, and is even entering the tea growing field with gardens in South Carolina and Hawaii. And, of course, iced sweet tea is a staple in the Southern States.

So enjoy your tea, whether iced or hot, and remember on the 4th of July that tea has played an important role in the formation of a great nation!