NEW ENGLAND BREAKFAST

According to the documented history of Marshfield, Massachusetts, founded in 1632 by Mayflower pilgrim Edward after the Boston Tea Party in 1773, New England and tea were permanently intertwined. “Tea and coffee were unknown to our predecessors,” history says. “Beer was a common beverage” in New England and Britain. “The breakfast of our predecessors at Marshfield, and throughout the colony generally, among the common classes, was milk and hasty pudding, or rye pudding and bread, with pea or bean soup or stew, flavoured pig, stewed peas, squash, turnips, parsnips, and onions.” Breakfast beer and parsnips? Thanks.

Thankfully, tea was brought to the New England colonies, and beer and parsnips were moved to dinner. After the Boston Tea Party, tea became a Northeast morning staple. Teas became popular. Atlantic Coast beers were substantial, full-bodied mixes to nourish the spirit in cold, wet weather. Boston tea blenders created blends from the various tea chests coming in port from England, China, Ceylon, and India, starting generations of New Englanders’ days.

We created this delicious breakfast tea blend to honour the Boston Tea Party. Like the Boston blends, it contains teas from the historic tea trade. A second flush Assam has a rich malty flavour, while the Kenyan component adds floral notes and coppery colour, the South Indian component adds fruitiness, the Ceylon component adds piquancy, and the China Keenum component adds burgundy depth with wood overtones. This tea deserves its historical moniker. New England cheers!