# Drinking tea after Dec 16, 1773 Harbor Tea Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408 "2026-07-04T13:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/1 "2026-07-04T13:36:10Z")
On this Independence Day 2026, I’m wondering if there was a backlash against tea-drinkers, even more so after July 2-4. I assume there was still tea available either at home or stores, but wouldn’t they be shunned for being unpatriotic? Of course, I also wonder where all the coffee came from if the US was primarily tea-drinkers. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/2 "2026-07-04T13:40:51Z")
Turned out that nobody in America could make a decent cup of tea, so they all moved over to coffee 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/3 "2026-07-04T13:44:16Z")
Many people continued to drink tea, as not everyone supported the revolutionary cause. Real revolutionaries drank beer or ale in taverns. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/4 "2026-07-04T14:01:23Z")
The historical nuance is lost on me, but I think the Boston Tea Party had to do with cheap (and legal) British tea undercutting the price of the more expensive, contraband (Dutch, I think) tea, and would cut into the profits of Colonial tea merchants. Or something very close to that. So long story short, the Boston Tea Party wasn’t a rebellion against tea per se, it was a rebellion against cheap tea stained with the taint of monarchy and oppression. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/5 "2026-07-04T14:41:57Z")
It wasn’t just Boston where Americans didn’t allow the East India Company tea to be landed. It was every port in the 13 colonies; just not in such a dramatic fashion. The objectionable tea to be taxed under the Tea Act never made it to shops, so a tea boycott made no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/6 "2026-07-04T14:44:03Z")
[Moderating] Please save the jokes in FQ until after the factual question has been addressed. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/7 "2026-07-04T14:57:40Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > it was a rebellion against cheap tea stained with the taint of monarchy and oppression. Or something. Exactly; the end user price was never an issue. The colonists were already effectively paying the tax when the cost was passed on to them by London tea merchants. The colonists understood that the Tea Act taxing tea shipped directly to the colonies established a precedent for parliament (where they had no representation) to impose whatever taxes and laws on the colonies they liked unilaterally. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/8 "2026-07-14T21:40:33Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > I assume there was still tea available either at home or stores, but wouldn’t they be shunned for being unpatriotic? There were many Liberty teas that were popular substitutes. They included teas made from sassafras, herbs and “New Jersey tea”, made from the leaves of Ceanothus americanus, which also is a nice ornamental. > **[Liberty Teas of Colonial Boston - Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum](https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/tea-blog/liberty-teas-of-colonial-boston)** > > As the tea dust rose above the water of Boston Harbor following the 1773 rebellion, colonists had to find a replacement for their English tea. > **[Ceanothus americanus](https://www.prairiemoon.com/ceanothus-americanus-new-jersey-tea)** > > Check out the deal on Ceanothus americanus at Prairie Moon Nursery ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/9 "2026-07-15T14:45:07Z")
How about _yerba mate?_ Too Spanish? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/10 "2026-07-15T14:52:56Z")
Probably completely unknown in North America at the time. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/11 "2026-07-15T15:59:46Z")
People kept drinking tea, why shouldnt they? The protest wasnt about tea- just tea from one source. > [@Drinking tea after Dec 16, 1773 Harbor Tea Day](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/3): > > Many people continued to drink tea, as not everyone supported the revolutionary cause. Real revolutionaries drank beer or ale in taverns. > The source of the protestors’ anger was the passage of the [Tea Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Act "Tea Act") by the [Parliament of Great Britain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Great_Britain "Parliament of Great Britain") on May 10, 1773, which allowed the [East India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company "East India Company") (EIC) to sell Chinese tea in the colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the [Townshend Acts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townshend_Acts "Townshend Acts"). The Sons of Liberty strongly opposed both the Tea Act and Townshend Acts, which they saw as a violation of their [“rights as Englishmen”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_Englishmen "Rights of Englishmen") to [no taxation without representation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_taxation_without_representation "No taxation without representation").[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party#cite_note-2) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/12 "2026-08-24T21:48:07Z")
_Yerba mate_ has its close relative in the southeast United States: Yaupon, which the Indians been drinking since forever. The only native North American plant with caffeine. They’re both holly (_Ilex)_. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/13 "2026-08-24T23:42:54Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The only native North American plant with caffeine. Although the main stimulant in the cocoa bean is theobromine, it also contains caffeine. ETA: I guess we could quibble and note that it came to Mexico from South America thousands of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/14 "2026-08-25T00:26:36Z")
We’re on cacao beans now? I missed the change of subject. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/15 "2026-08-25T00:33:22Z")
I was just commenting on the claim that yaupon is the only native North American plant with caffeine. Cocoa is as native to North America as Native Americans are. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/16 "2026-08-25T00:39:04Z")
It’s cacao. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/17 "2026-08-25T00:42:07Z")
Ya know? [Sometimes it can be both](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_bean). This isn’t a road I’m going down with you again. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/18 "2026-08-25T13:53:25Z")
I have not dug deep into the references, but Wikipedia does cite people promoting yaupon and other herbal “Liberty teas”. So they at least had something [caffeinated], at least in some parts of the U.S. Also, maybe some began drinking more coffee? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-tea-after-dec-16-1773-harbor-tea-day/1031408/19 "2026-08-25T17:14:10Z")
Coffee definitely became a thing for that very reason.