Boston Tea Party question

[oldmarian]

Hello!

I'm new here, and I have a historical question about tea.

An acquaintance claims that the tea thrown overboard at the Boston Tea Party must have been green tea because black tea comes from India and the plantations there had not yet been established in the 1700's.

But I thought China produced green, black, and oolong tea, even back then. So the question is: When did the English (and their American colonist)s start importing and drinking black tea?

Any information or leads would be appreciated!

Marian

[Romance Writer]

Throw aside your Bohea and your Green Hyson Tea,
And all good things with a new fashion duty;
Procure a good store of the choice Labradore,
For there’ll soon be enough here to suit ye.

This is the quote I found online. It appears that they used a tea called Labradore, an herbal tea from China. However it also speaks of Bohea, a black tea from China, was drank often but the Green Hyson was the prized of the teas.

Hope that helps some. Again with a quick search on the net I found this info.

[Janine]

There's a really interesting article in TeaMuse about these early exported China Black teas

http://www.teamuse.com/article_031001.html


Also an article on the Tea Party itself (more than one article - look for continuation)
http://www.teamuse.com/article_010303.html


As well as a history archive
http://www.teamuse.com/archive_history.html

Interesting stuff!