Baltimore Clipper Tea is a black-and-green ” ‘Historic re-creation’ of the China tea carried during the golden years of the American Clipper Ship.”
Ahhh, those golden years from the 1830s until the 1850s. I should make a #ThrowbackThursday post about those sweet, sweet memories past.
This tea is EXTREMELY rich and malty. The black tea is the main stage, with a tiny bit of the green mostly in the background. The green adds a little tinge of that earthy bitterness, but not much else. I’m not quite sure why the green is there, maybe for historical accuracy? How was tea made in the 1830s?
While researching this clipper ship thing (or, okay, reading the tea description), I found out that the ships were essentially racing to England from China after harvest time. The English wanted their tea ASAP. They paid a premium for the freshest arrivals from the latest harvest.
Can you IMAGINE being a sea captain on one of those clipper ships? “AVAST, MATEY, GOTTA SERVE THE QUEEN! CHOP CHOP CHOP! THE CORGIS NEED A CUPPA!”
And then the swashbuckling crew is like “hold on, we’re finishing our own cups,” and the sea captain roars “THAT IS FOR THE GOOD PEOPLE OF ENGLAND, YOU BRUTES! NEVER DIP INTO YOUR OWN STASH! THAT’S THE FIRST RULE!”
A golden era, guys. We’ll never see it again. We land-lubbers will just have to blog about it from mostly-landlocked states. Alas.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Eastern Shore Tea Co.
Description
Experience a taste of the excitement engendered by America’s merchant adventurers who built and owned the finest clipper ships in the world. The first real clipper ship was the “Ann McKim,” built for Isaac McKim in 1832. When the British ended the East India Company monopoly in the 1830s, the U.S. began a China trade with faster and more capacious ships, and competition between the two countries grew. Repeal of the British Navigation Laws in 1849 allowed American ships to load Asian tea for British markets. A typical voyage from Boston to Canton and back to England by way of the Cape of Good Hope took nine to ten months. American fortunes were made carrying furs from the Pacific Northwest to China, where they were traded for tea. A premium was paid in England for the earliest arriving ship with the season’s new teas from China. The first American ship to reach the docks was the Oriental arriving from Hong Kong in only ninety-seven days, creating a sensation. The twenty-five years of the clipper ended when the Suez Canal provided a shorter route through the Mediterranean. It was a romantic era in America’s maritime history and another chapter of tea’s long and important story in the world economy.
An “Historic re-creation” of the China tea carried during the golden years of the American Clipper Ship. Blended Black & Green China tea. Contains Caffeine. 20 Count foil wrapped tea bags in our classic white ribbon bag.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Black Raven Tea from Eastern Shore Tea Company. . . .
Goths, unite! I was wearing this dress today.. . . .so of course, destiny called for me to try the corresponding tea.
Here’s the description from Eastern Shore Tea’s site:
“Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, this luscious blackcurrant tea blend is a Polished Paean of Praise to the mysterious romanticism and darkly poetic imagery of one of America’s first and still foremost authors of spellbinding tales.”
This tea is rich and juicy and moody. It steeps a really dark brown. There’s a shocking amount of flavor, depth, and opacity in it.
It’s kind of like those poems I used to write. DEEP AND DARK, MAN. INCOMPREHENSIBLE. BEYOND THE SCOPE OF YOUR MIND.
Were you ever a teenage goth? If not, let me tell you: it was exhausting.
On a day-to-day basis, it was fine.
The issue was that it had to be maintained. You couldn’t just pull on a jean-plus-tee-plus-sneakers look. At least two of the three elements of that had to be black. If you wore something without enough black, you had to wear a bunch of moody makeup to counterbalance it.
If you run black clothes through the wash, they start to fade. Then they turn into brown-blacks, blue-blacks, etc, and you have to be careful you don’t wear clashing blacks together. So you wind up doing your laundry BY HAND to keep the blacks fresh. (My mom wouldn’t let me fabric-dye my clothes back to their witching-hour glory. Not in HER washer.)
And then if you liked something counter to your persona (say, if you were a Backstreet Boys fan) (oh yes, this was me), you had to lie. Otherwise: universal derision, from fellow black-wearers and normies alike.
Nowadays, kids have it easy. Being a geek is cool. You can absolutely be into Edgar Allen Poe, and sci-fi, and boy bands, and dogs, and the color purple, and combat boots — all at once. You can dress however you want, all the time. You can even be OPENLY GAY in HIGH SCHOOL nowadays. (Even in some of the red states!) You can just pick out your interests and march forth into the sunshine.
This was not the case when I was a kid. It was a Mean Girls clique horror-show, you guys. You had to pick your clique and stick to its rules.
This tea would have gone with my high school persona. But it also goes with my adult persona, because adult me just does what she wants. For better or worse. For dumpster or dumpster fire. I’m staying true.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Eastern Shore Tea
Description
A blackcurrant blend, darkly delicious, in honor of Edgar Allan Poe’s spell-binding tales and haunting imagery. Flavored black tea. Contains caffeine. 3 oz. loose tea with re-usable tea bag.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!