Tea in Early America

Tea (Camellia sinensis) had long been used in Asia before its introduction into Europe in the mid-17th century.  Early merchants and travelers encountered tea drinking in foreign lands and quickly adopted the habit.  For most of the 18th century, tea was an extremely expensive beverage.  In 1756, Deerfield merchant Elijah Williams purchased equal amounts of tea, coffee, and chocolate in Boston.  The coffee cost 8 shillings per pound, the chocolate was 10 shillings per pound, and the tea came in at a whopping 37 shillings, 6 pence per pound.  As a cost comparison, a day’s wages for a laborer at that time was about 2 shillings.  Despite its high cost, tea gradually replaced ale and beer as the beverage of choice for almost everyone.  As early as 1734, one New Yorker complained, “I am credibly informed that tea and china ware cost the province, yearly, near the sum of £10,000; and people that are least able to go to the expence, must have their tea tho’ their families want bread.  Nay, I am told, often pawn their rings and plate to gratifie themselves in that piece of extravagance.”