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Miscellaneous: According to Webster ("An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Economy..."), teas in mid-19th. century England were still imported mostly from China. Webster lists among the black teas (fermented): Bohea (apparently the cheapest and the most common in the 18th. century), from several regions, various Congou teas (now known as "English breakfast tea"), and, in the mid-century England, that of which "the consumption....very much exceeds that of any other variety." ; "Souchong" (and Amoi Souchong), selling wholesale at Canton in 1844 for between 10 pence & 1 shilling 10 pence per pound; Orange Pekoe (modern America's largest selling tea); and other Pekoes. Also in order of price and quality, the leading green (unfermented) teas were: Twankay, various types of Hyson, and two varieties of Gunpowder. "Souchong", Webster points out, means "'a very little sort,'", and was the development in the age and size of the leaves between the early tender Pekoes & the later Congous & Boheas. Amid the common teas, there was also imported into England, c.1844, limited quantities of "'Padre tea'", or "a very highly flavored 'Souchong', made up in the form of balls, and imported chiefly in small boxes." (the so-called "Padre tea" thus sounds closest to the type of Souchong--"Lapsang Souchong-- available mostly today in America, distinguished by its rather smoky taste.) In general, "Souchong", said Webster, "was formerly much exported, and is still so to a certain extent; but it is said that some of the finer kinds have of late almost disappeared from the English market, without any cause being assigned, and that the finer Congou is often sold for it. Souchong's infusion is of a greenish colour, and it has an agreeable flavor."
From scanning trade notices in American newspapers of early-mid-19th. century, it may be assumed that three of the most popular teas imported were the Hysons(green), Souchong(black) and Oolong(semi-fermented), although Webster makes no mention of the latter. In DePew, it is stated that for the early 19th. century, tea imports annually were c. 3,000,000 pounds, or over, and that prices were a bit cheaper in America than in
England. Bohea was $.30 per pound, Souchong worht $.75, and Hyson Skin(not the tenderest Hyson), $1.00 per pound. Duties on tea in America were, after the Revolution, and during the early 19th. century, two or three times greater than the initial cost at Canton of the tea. As a result, a single ship carrying tea might have some $200,000 or $300,000 to pay in duties on its cargo, and, in general, only the largest merchants were in the business.Note Type
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