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Dear Oliver, December is an important month in the history of tea in the “New World” as earlyEuropeans dubbed the lands across the Atlantic. These early settlers were relianton European...

19th Century Drinking Chocolate Ceramics, London. Special thanks to: GEORGE C. BIRLANT & CO. (Antiques), Charleston, 843-722-3842, www.birlant.com. Photography: Kyle Brown. All Rights Reserved. As far back as 1556, when an unknown European...

Bergamot Orange watercolor illustration (Citrus Bergamia), by L. Osbeck The origin of “who first put leaf to water” is completely unknown to culinary historians. Before the mid-nineteenth century, botanists failed...

I started a tea business in 2009 with a business plan of becoming the “Ben and Jerry’s of iced tea”. After sampling over 300 broken orange pekoes from India and...

Crest of the South Carolina Gazette. Photography: Kyle Brown. All Rights Reserved. The South Carolina Gazette reported on the dramatic confrontation between the colonists and British sea captain Samuel Ball,...

Advertisement of return voyage from Charleston to London via the ship Britannia, published November 21, 1774 in the South Carolina Gazette. Photography: Kyle Brown. All Rights Reserved. The “Bay is...

The South Carolina Gazette advertising British imported goods in a paper dated November 21, 1774. Photography: Kyle Brown. All Rights Reserved. The revenue acts enacted by the British government on the American...

Tea caddy, England (attributed), c.1830. Made from mahogany and mahogany veneers with paper-lined interior compartments. Courtesy of the Charleston Museum, copyright 2016 By the 1770’s, tea trading was a vital...

Tea box and tea caddies, China, c.1835, Chinese lacquered box with pewter inserts. Courtesy of The Charleston Museum, Copyright 2016 On a colonial American tea table, one would find an...

Middleton Place, Charleston, SC Beginning in the 1690’s, preparing, serving, and drinking tea was a ceremonial act that was woven into the daily life of the more wealthy colonists. For...