Blend 1776 Specialty Tea

• Country of Origin: Sri Lanka, India
• Region: Dimbula, Assam
• Shipping Port: Colombo, Haldia
• Grade: FBOP (Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe)
• Altitude: 5200 ft, 1500 feet above sea level
• Manufacturer Type: Orthodox
• Cup Characteristics: Hints of maple and strawberry combined with flavory Ceylon and malty Assam gives a round full cup.
• Infusions: Bright coppery colour
• Ingredients: Luxury black tea, Natural flavors.

During colonial times, tea was an important part of local culture as Dutch and English immigrants brought their taste for tea to America. Tea quickly became a colonial staple and was not confined to the affluent at their tea parties. Tea in fact was considered a healthy beverage and a sign of good manners and expected hospitality. Tea became the third ranked import among American colonists after textiles and manufactured goods. Tea played an important role in the trade links between England and the new colonies but by the latter half of the 1700’s England found itself strapped for cash due to the heavy financial burdens of fighting wars and maintaining its global colonial Empire. England resorted to taxing tea on its far-flung empire as a means of raising capital.

These actions provoked a violent patriotic revolt and a boycott on tea purchases. The famous Boston Tea Party was a trigger for the American Revolution culminating in The Declaration of Independence in 1776. During the boycott the colonists boiled everything from pine needles, strawberry leaves, maple leaves and shrubs to stem their thirst for tea. Our blend of Ceylon and Assam tea (both major tea growing areas of the old British Empire), combined with the essence of Strawberry and Maple captures the spirit of the revolution and puts tea back into the cup.