Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Two ©

Picture by the Author.

There is nothing better on a cold morning, in the wild parts of the world than a hot cup coffee, tea or chocolate.  In last week’s article (HERE), I discussed drinking chocolate and next week I am going to talk about coffee.  During the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries drinking chocolate was the most commonly drank hot drink with coffee as the third most popular choice.  This week I am going to talk about tea, which was the second most popular hot drink during this time.

I had a lot of questions about tea-time during the late 18^th to the early 19^th centuries.  Like, what teas did people drink?  Are there modern teas which are like them?  And how did they make a pot of tea during the late 18^th to the early 19^th centuries?

Here is what I discovered.

 

An excerpt from The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11^th Edition, p. 172

  

The tea that was sold and drank during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries was both the same and different from what we drink today.  During the 18^th century most tea came from China and only some came from Japan.  It wasn’t until the 1820's that tea began to be produced in Assam, which is a state in northeastern India.  Today tea is harvested in Kenya, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Malawi, Rwanda and China. 

All tea comes from the leaves of camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub that is sometimes called the tea plant or tea tree.  To make black tea the leaves are plucked, tumbled or macerated to start oxidation, allowed to fully oxidize, wither and brown, before being panned (or heated) to stop oxidation, then they are rolled and dried.  This curing process gives the black tea it’s deep red-brown color and flavor.  Black teas have the most caffeine of all the teas; however, it is still less than what is in a cup of coffee.  What is called black tea by modern Westerners, is called “hung chá” in China, and was most likely not developed until the 19^th century¹.  Green tea is made of leaves that have been plucked, allowed to wither, and are then panned to stop the oxidation before they are rolled and dried.  Since they have not cured and oxidized, they have a green color and the least amount of caffeine of all the teas.  When making oolong tea, the harvested leaves are first allowed to wilt slowly in the sun, which allows some oxidation to take place before it is panned to stop the oxidation, then the leaves are rolled and dried.  The semi-oxidized flavors and colors of oolong tea are somewhere between the flavors and colors of the modern black tea and modern green tea.

 

An excerpt from Encyclopedia Britannica Or a Dictionary, Vol. XX, Fourth Edition, 1810, p. 228

  

During the early 18^th century, the tea trade only recognized three different types of tea; Bohea (a black tea), Singlo or soumlo (a green tea), and bing or imperial (also a green tea). 

Bohea tea takes its name from the anglicized pronunciation of Wu-i and was named for the mountains, in the Fujian (anglicized to Fuhkien) province of China, where, during the 18^th century, it was picked.  The people who live in this part of China call their tea “wu-i chá”, with the word “chá” meaning tea.  Since the dialect spoken in Fujian province pronounces a “w” as a “b”, the 18^th century English traders wrote “wu-i chá” as “bo-hea”.  18^th century Bohea was most likely a form of oolong tea or as it is written in china, “wu lung”². 

In the 1720’s Thomas Twining began to sell “pekoe” tea which is tea leaves picked as two leaves and a bud.³ 

  

 

Excerpts from Encyclopaedia Britannica Or a Dictionary, Vol. XX, Fourth Edition, 1810, p. 229 and 230

By early 19^th century, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1810, there were eight recognized types of tea, three kinds of green tea and five kinds bohea or black tea. 

So, what does all of this mean to someone who is interested in accurately portraying person living during the late 18^th to the early19^th centuries?   What it means is that you should choose either a modern green tea or a modern oolong tea, which is the most similar modern black tea to the bohea teas of the time.  Also, since tea was shipped loose and packed in chests, during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, you should choose loose tea to be period correct – no tea bags!

Now that we know what tea to drink, how do we make tea, like they did during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries?

The book Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, published in 1800, had some very good tips on pages 94 to 97 on how to make tea to serve to guests in the parlour (for a reproduction of pages 94 to 97, see note⁴).  If you boil the tips down, you are left with the following two recipes. 

 

Based on tips from the  Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, 1800, pages 94 to 97, graphics by the Author.

So that is the correct way to make tea for guests in the parlour, but what about making tea over a campfire in the wilderness?

Horace Kephart, in Camp Cookery has some suggestions for making tea over the campfire.  It is interesting to note that Mr. Kephart’s recipe for making tea makes 16 ounces (473 ml or one US pint) of tea which is almost the same amount of tea that Parlour Tea Recipe One, which will make about 15 ounces, or 450 ml, of tea per person, assuming that the six-ounce (almost 180 ml) tea cup is filled to just below the rim. 

 

Excerpts from Camp Cookery by Horace Kephart, pages 11 and 135 to 136

Incidentally, while Horace Kephart brought loose tea on his journeys through the wilderness, today we can choose between loose tea or teabags.

 

Photos by the Author.

I hope that the next time you are out in the woods, you stop long enough to brew up a nice cup of tea and sit and enjoy the peace and quiet around your fire.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and if you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

¹ Canton Tea; “Teas of the eighteenth century English tea trade”

² Baker, Mark A.; Muzzleloader Magazine’s A Pilgrim’s Journey, Volume One: 1986-1995, p. 277-278

³ Canton Tea; “Teas of the eighteenth century English tea trade”

⁴ Excerpts from Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, 1800, pages 94 to 97

Sources

Baker, Mark A.; “Corrections, Confessions and Challenges”, Muzzleloader Magazine’s A Pilgrim’s Journey, Volume One: 1986-1995, [Scurlock Publishing Co., Inc. Texarkana, TX, 2004], p. 274-279

Canton Tea; “Teas of the eighteenth century English tea trade” [© Canton Tea 2018], https://cantontea.com/blogs/tea-stories/teas-of-the-eighteenth-century-english-tea-trade, accessed 1/2/20

Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, [Printed for H. D. Symonds, London, 1800] p. 94 - 97, https://books.google.com/books?id=FrJcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=%22domestic+management%22+%22as+it+frequently+falls+to+upper+maids%22&source=bl&ots=PwxHlu5__m&sig=ACfU3U0DIKmTFUQg61HsG_gchhaHAZhf8g&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqz-_Wq-bmAhXBQc0KHZplCy8Q6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22domestic%20management%22%20%22as%20it%20frequently%20falls%20to%20upper%20maids%22&f=false, accessed 1/2/20

Encyclopaedia Britannica Or a Dictionary, Vol. XX, Fourth Edition, [Printed by Andrew Bell, Edinburgh, 1810], p. 226-230

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadzrnxYI8sU3hn3AX5Rct0mGIENJsgOLEGP1OTxMslKB8txgqqsa11Qy0Z_1_1lO4K7vrbSj6-wx3_8JKrPt87rg4DblyyM-cT5vKUncg66lzbei77ivCaZOjOizc7waQMBFv1xa0du8uJlI3HWi2p72y9UUsoM0p9K_0uZpr3qwDaNUX3okKJ8yhKI6CPbsYzk6OKek0XgRkVTNfcfvtVisrf5VsW4w_RIgYDlwFuLZGe3SWWcTH4Jtx19AI4dPUnLBtBgMCoYe-KyqIDoU54iUNHefyl6jGER1bdIUzBRds61fIM, accessed 1/4/20

Frontier Co-op, “Types and Grades of Tea” [© 2018 Frontier Co-op], https://www.frontiercoop.com/community/tea-guide/types-and-grades-of-tea, accessed 1/4/20

Kephart, Horace; Camp Cookery, [Outing Publishing Company, New York, 1910], pages 11 and 135-136, https://archive.org/details/campcookery01keph/page/n7, accessed 12/28/19

Tea Epicure; “Tea Processing Step: Oxidation”, [© Copyright 2020], https://teaepicure.com/tea-leaves-oxidation/, accessed 1/4/20

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11^th Edition, Vol. XXVI, [New York, 1911] p. 172, https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabrit26ed11arch/page/n6, accessed 1/2/20