I’ve been a bartender and mixologist in San Francisco for 8 years and am involved in running the San Francisco School of Bartending.  In my upcoming posts, we’re going to learn about how to make cocktails incorporating tea.  This post includes a recipe for a Tea Rum Cocktail.  But, first let’s start by finding out more about how the combination of tea and rum came together to play a role in inciting the American Revolution.

Most of us remember learning that the American Independence movement began with the Boston Tea Party.  Fed up the with the British imposed tea tax, in 1773 the colonists stormed onto a ship docked in Boston Harbor and dumped its tea cargo into the water. Other ports joined in on similar festivities culminating with the start of the Revolutionary War ultimately based on the premise: no taxation without representation.

However, most of us don’t know what discord actually led to “no taxation without representation” and even to the Boston Tea Party in the first place.  The discord between Britain and the New World did indeed begin with a tax on a beverage, but it was not tea. It was rum.  It began in 1733, forty years earlier, when the British imposed something they called the Molasses Act.

Molasses is the bi-product of refining sugar cane into fine sugar.  When old world countries such as England and France first settled the West Indies, they brought sugar cane with them from Indonesia.  They then planted the sugar cane on the islands where they found perfect conditions for the plant to thrive.

Sugar refineries were set up on the islands and refined sugar was sent back to the Old World.  At first people dumped the molasses into the ocean, but then they got smart.  Feeling a thirst and lacking the ability to grow grapes and make wine, they realized they could make a crude beer from the molasses, which they then distilled into rum.

Sugar cane and molasses were also transported to the New England States.  The colonists used molasses to make rum which they enjoyed themselves and exported to Africa to pay for slaves.  In fact, rum, not whisky, was America’s first alcoholic beverage. Whisky wasn’t introduced to the states until the late 1700′s.

With the Molasses Act of 1733 the British issued a stiff tax on molasses imported to the colonies from French sugar cane producing islands.  Although the tax was intended to support purchase of English molasses, the colonists preferred the superior quality and greater availability of French molasses.  Rum provided for a large majority of the new state’s export trade. The tax infringed not only on the colonists’ pocketbooks, but also on their drinking habits. So the colonists ignored the tax and continued their purchase and use of French molasses.

This descent was the seed from which future defiance of English law would sprout.  In 1764, the English imposed the Sugar Act which made the Molasses Act more enforceable. Duties began to be collected on the sales of molasses.  Rum distilleries in the colonies organized boycotts of British imports under the banner of “no taxation without representation”, which became a popular slogan. All this occurred before the famous tea party.

So you see it was actually rum, and not tea that spurred on the Revolutionary War.  Wait, let me put it a different way, it was rum and tea.  This historic combination led to the greatest war in American History.  Don’t think that the tea and rum mixture is only effective at liberating a people. It’s also effective as a libation to be drunk by liberated people.

We can toast to our now British allies by enjoying the following recipe for a Tea Rum Cocktail.  This recipe resembles the punch that British sailors drank in the 1600′s. A recipe using tea and rum they adopted from India.

Tea Rum Cocktail

2 oz. Aged rum (smooth and mellow such as Zaya)
2 oz. Mighty Leaf Organic Breakfast Tea (brewed and cooled)
1⁄2 oz Lime juice (fresh)
1⁄2 oz. Demerara sugar (or 3/4 oz. simple syrup or maple syrup)

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Strain into a martini glass.  Sprinkle in fresh nutmeg.

The history of tea reads like a good novel with its share of mythical origins and ancient rituals, tea spies and smuggling, royalty and revolution.  Throughout this provocative history, a freshly brewed pot filled with whole tea leaves has always been revered as the richest in character and served as a means for people to connect with themselves and others. Tea connects people, plain and simple.  With this blog we too hope to connect with you, one cup at a time. 

We look forward to sharing not only useful information on the fundamentals of tea, its rich history and culture, but also the philosophy, health benefits, and culinary traditions that exist behind this extraordinary plant.  Of course, we will keep you up to date as to what’s going on in the world of Mighty Leaf and current tea trends.  Having you participate and join the conversation will make this blog even more colorful and exciting.

Tea is more than just a beverage, it’s a lifestyle. We hear from people often whether via Twitter, email or phone that tea impacts their lives on a daily basis.   Our hope is that we can enhance your tea experience.  In addition to posts from Mighty Leaf employees, we have partnered with a variety of fellow food and beverage lovers and health experts to provide different perspectives on their experiences with tea.

Chef Vinita Jacinto, the Chief Instructor of Principles of Contemporary Cuisine at California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, will write a monthly post on cooking with tea.   Dr. Jeremy Warner of the University of California, San Francisco will post articles on tea and health.  Shawn Refoua, a bartender working at Rouge and Azul in San Francisco, and who teaches bartending at the San Francisco School of Bartending will deliver tips on blending cocktails and tea.

We are lucky to have many passionate people working at Mighty Leaf who are committed to spreading the word about the magic of whole leaf tea.  Our mission is to introduce as many people as possible to the multi-sensory experience of drinking high quality tea.  Mighty Leaf customers have shown a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for tea – we are thankful for this.