A common myth about the Boston Tea Party has been debunked by historian Bruce Richardson, who revealed that green tea was just as popular as black tea among colonists.

The Truth About the Boston Tea Party

Richardson, the founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, told Fox News Digital that British subjects were just as likely to drink green tea as black tea, whether they were in England or colonial Boston.

There were five types of tea exported from China, with two being green and three being black. The teas dumped into Boston Harbor included three black varieties – Bohea, Souchong, and Congou – as well as the green teas Hyson and Singlo.

Bohea, the most common and least expensive black tea of the era, was often made from older tea leaves harvested after the highest-quality leaves of the season had already been picked. Most of the tea dumped into Boston Harbor was Bohea, which was so ubiquitous that it was often used as a synonym for tea.

Colonial Americans distinguished between green and black tea, storing them differently. The well-to-do would have a tea caddy with two compartments, one for green tea and one for black tea.

Merchants favored black tea because it held up better during the long voyage from China to Europe and the American colonies. Green tea, on the other hand, was what China had always drunk, and it was exported as well.

After many colonists swore off British tea, they kept the ritual of drinking it, brewing so-called ‘Liberty Teas’ made from ingredients such as dried apples, blueberries, chamomile, and herbs grown in their gardens.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.