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Why Most Americans Drink Coffee Not Tea

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Why Most Americans Drink Coffee Not Tea

No matter where you go in the US, you see coffee. It's in every restaurant, grocery store, gas station, airport, office building, meeting and almost every American home. But, have you ever wondered why you see coffee everywhere and not tea? The answer is actually quite interesting.

Coffee popularity has roots back to the Revolutionary War

As we all know, the US used to be a British Colony. And then there was a giant tea party where we tossed a bunch of tea overboard to protest taxes. But, what most people aren’t too aware of are the events that occurred afterwards. 

John Adams declared tea a "traitor's drink"

In a letter from John Adams to his wife, he stated, "Tea must be universally renounced and I must be weaned, and the sooner the better." From this point on there was an unofficial boycott on tea in the (then) British Colonies. People united and vowed to only serve coffee in their homes. Soon this show of solidarity spread throughout the Colonies and people began to associate coffee with the Revolution. It even got to the point where people viewed drinking tea as a betrayal to the Colonies. 

Why it was such a popular movement

Back in the late 1700s, tea was quintessentially British. The King and Queen drank it, all the royalty drank it and the entire population was fanatical about tea. On the business side, the East India Company (which was British) ruled the tea trade and the British were in the process of setting up their own tea farms in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and India. Tea was so closely associated with Britain that to boycott tea was to boycott British culture. 

Tea was eventually phased out

The Boston Tea Party occurred in 1773. The end of the Revolutionary War was in 1783. This means that the Colonists (and soon to be Americans) had boycotted tea for roughly 10 years. It was over these 10 years that people developed a taste for coffee and once people started to drink coffee every day, there was no going back. 

The same thing happened with French wine

Back in 2003, there was a lot of anti-French sentiment occurring throughout the US due to politics in our Post 9/11 world. Because of this, many restaurants refused to serve French wines, opting instead for American, Australian and South American wines. Even though the anti-French sentiment died down, wines from France are much more difficult to find these days compared to 10 years ago. 

Summary

It is amazing how a political movement from over 200 years ago helped shape something as simple as coffee and tea. If John Adams and others had not started the movement to ban tea, America would most likely be a tea-drinking nation, in my opinion. But let's let bygones be bygones and put the past behind us. After all, tea is healthier and easier on the stomach than coffee. And, most importantly, real tea (not the bagged grocery store stuff) is simply one of the most delicious beverages you can drink.

 

photo: www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/5191559433




4 Responses

Robert Jones
Robert Jones

September 11, 2016

The World may run on oil But for me Coffee is the starter fluid.

Ainee Beland
Ainee Beland

January 21, 2016

Nicely done Marcus. I am currently browsing book title “Paul Revere’s Ride” by David Hackett Fischer. It is good to view and read up on the Tea tax not wanted by folks since they felt taxing enough. Saying “we’ll pay no taxes on his foreign tea…” as the East Indian tea chest was emptied into Boston Harbor. They rallied, and yet never truly came together. Boston refused the newly imported tea.

Were it not taxed (however small) would there have been such a disagreement and outcry. To be taxed, liens, is a no, no! And this is very true today and all the tomorrows to come. No one wants to pay extra; or some should while others pay not. Foreigners (immigrants) vs. Americans…not much has changed really. Or I simply do not understand and I have taken away—misinterpreted your lovely deluge of this very important historical lore.

Thank you for sharing, don’t mind me too much. I am not grand.

Jock
Jock

January 21, 2016

Great site and great facts we use these facts at our coffee site and discuss why people should get aid for drinking coffee

[INFP] Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here...
[INFP] Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here...

January 21, 2016

[…] spicy. Enjoy guys. P.S. Here's an interesting tidbit about coffee and the American Revolution – Why Americans Drink Coffee Rather Than Tea Reply   Reply With […]

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Here is a quick guide to how many cups of brewed tea each of our serving sizes makes.

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