How Tea Shaped America: From the Boston Tea Party to 2.3 Billion Tea Bags a Year

Published July 2, 2026

Tea has been woven into the American story for centuries. A protest over taxed tea, the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, helped spark the American Revolution. Today, an estimated 160 million Americans drink tea on any given day. Bigelow Tea, a third generation, family-owned company that blends and packages its tea bags in the United States, has helped shape that story since 1945. 

Key takeaways

•      Tea helped spark the American Revolution. On December 16, 1773, colonists threw 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor in the protest known as the Boston Tea Party.

•      After the Revolutionary War, Americans began importing tea directly from China rather than through Britain, carried on fast American clipper ships that cut the voyage to roughly 90 days.

•      Two American innovations changed how the world drinks tea: iced tea was popularized at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 and the tea bag was introduced in 1908.

•      Bigelow Tea was founded in 1945 by Ruth Campbell Bigelow, whose “Constant Comment” blend was inspired by an early colonial tea recipe.

•      Tea is found in more than 80 percent of U.S. households and an estimated 160 million Americans drink tea on any given day.

Why does tea matter to American history?

Long before tea became an everyday staple, tea sat at the center of a fight over fairness. Tea was wildly popular in the American colonies in the 1700s and that popularity made it an easy target for taxation. According to a Tea Fact Sheet from the Tea Association of the USA, the British government taxed tea under the Townshend Acts in 1767, kept the tea tax in place when other taxes were repealed in 1770, and then granted a tea monopoly to the British East India Company in 1773. Higher prices and taxation without representation pushed colonists toward open protest.

What was the Boston Tea Party?

According to the Tea Association of the USA, on the night of December 16, 1773, a group of colonists boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea into the water. It was not the only time colonists destroyed tea in protest, but it became the most famous. The night pushed the colonies and Britain past the point of negotiation. In Boston, some households gave up tea altogether for a time, turning to coffee or to local herbs and dried berries instead. The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum describes how colonists brewed homegrown substitutes they called Liberty Tea, from raspberry leaf, mint, and goldenrod to a native shrub called New Jersey tea. None of these came from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, so they were herbal infusions rather than true tea. Gathering and blending often fell to colonial women who kept the boycott going at home, a tradition that eventually grew into the herbal tea category Americans embrace today.

How did tea come back to America after the Revolution?

Tea returned to popularity once the war ended and Americans began importing it directly from China rather than through Britain. In the 1800s, American shipbuilders gave the world the clipper ship, a sleek, heavily sailed vessel that brought tea from China in roughly 90 days rather than about six months, as recounted in Bigelow Tea’s history of tea. A golden age of racing between American and British clippers followed until steam power and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 brought the era to a close. In the American South, tea was becoming a household staple, served over ice and sweetened, a tradition that would eventually define how many Americans drink tea today. 

What two American tea innovations happened in 1904? 

The year 1904 gave the world a new way to enjoy tea. At the St. Louis World's Fair, iced tea was popularized for a mass American audience when Richard Blechynden, a British tea merchant promoting Indian tea, poured his tea over ice to win over fairgoers in the summer heat. The Tea Association of the USA notes that the United States remains the only country in the world that drinks most of its tea chilled, with roughly 75 to 80 percent of American tea served iced. 

A few years later in 1908, New York tea importer Thomas Sullivan began sending tea samples to his customers in small silk bags and when his customers steeped the whole bag rather than opening it, the tea bag was accidentally born. Later, silk tea bags were replaced by gauze. The tea bag has evolved significantly since Sullivan's silk pouches. Today most tea bags are made with plant-based, compostable materials containing no plastic. 

Where does Bigelow Tea fit into the American tea story? 

Bigelow Tea joined the American tea story in 1945, at a moment when postwar Americans were ready to embrace new everyday pleasures. That year, Ruth Campbell Bigelow blended black tea with orange rind and sweet spices, drawing on an early colonial tea recipe, to create what became the first specialty tea in the country. Friends told Ruth the new blend was a source of constant comment, and so the tea took that name, ”Constant Comment”. Eight decades later, the original recipe, a Bigelow family secret, is still made.

Ruth's son, David C. Bigelow, and his wife, Eunice, led the company into its next era. In 1974, David, with the support of Eunice, brought specialty tea to the mass market through grocery channels, a move that doubled the business within two years and helped expand the variety of tea flavors Americans drink today. David also developed the foil pouch that protects each individual tea bag, an innovation Bigelow Tea calls an industry gold standard for keeping tea fresh and flavorful. Headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, the company expanded with facilities in Boise, Idaho and Louisville, Kentucky.

Under David C. Bigelow, the family-owned company also chose to stay independent. As other family businesses sold to larger corporations, he kept Bigelow Tea fully family owned which is still the case today.

In 2003, the family bought and preserved the Charleston Tea Garden on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina, deepening Bigelow Tea's roots in America’s tea history. The garden is described as the largest working tea garden in America and one of the few places in North America where tea is actually grown and is home to American Classic Tea.

How is Third Generation Cindi Bigelow leading Bigelow Tea today?

Ruth Campbell Bigelow's granddaughter, Cindi Bigelow, became President and CEO in 2005 after spending more than twenty years working her way through sales, marketing, and operations. Since then, she has led Bigelow Tea through a period of significant growth while building upon the foundation established by her grandmother and father.

Under Cindi's leadership, Bigelow Tea has expanded into new markets and channels, broadened its portfolio with organic, seasonal, and wellness-focused teas, and grown into the number one tea company in the United States. The company remains family owned and continues to blend and package its teas in three U.S. facilities, using ingredients sourced from trusted farms in the United States and around the world.

Cindi has also strengthened Bigelow Tea's long-standing commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility. The company became a Certified B Corporation in 2019, achieved Green-e certification in 2020 through its renewable energy efforts, and has maintained zero-waste-to-landfill operations since 2012. In 2023, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council certified Bigelow Tea as a one hundred percent woman-owned business.

Straight from the Source: Cindi Bigelow on her Family's Legacy

"Few families have the opportunity to help shape a small part of American history across three generations. My grandmother, Ruth Campbell Bigelow, introduced what became America's first specialty tea and created a tradition that continues to bring comfort and connection to tea drinkers today. My father, David C. Bigelow, helped bring specialty tea into homes across the country, developed the foil pouch that protects every tea bag, and ensured our company remained proudly family owned and independent.

As the third generation to lead Bigelow Tea, it has been both a blessing and a privilege to build upon the foundation my grandmother and father created. They taught me that success is measured not only by what you achieve, but by how you treat people, the quality of your work, and your commitment to doing the right thing. Those values continue to guide us today and live on through our 450 dedicated employees, whose passion and care help make Bigelow Tea what it is.

What makes me most proud is that our family's legacy extends beyond tea. Every year, we blend and package more than 2.3 billion tea bags right here in the USA, transforming the world's finest ingredients into cups enjoyed by millions of tea drinkers.

For more than eighty years, the trust our customers place in our family has inspired everything we do. We never take that trust for granted, and it is an honor to carry that legacy forward every day."

Cindi Bigelow
President & CEO, Bigelow Tea

How do Americans drink tea today?

Tea is one of the few beverages Americans drink hot or iced, at any hour and for any occasion. According to the Tea Association of the USA, black tea accounts for roughly 84 percent of the tea Americans drink, green tea for about 15 percent, and oolong, white, and dark teas for the small remainder. Tea drinking is most concentrated in the South and the Northeast.

Convenience has also shaped how Americans drink tea. The tea bag, accidentally invented in 1908, remains the most common way to brew hot tea at home, offering a simple, no-equipment approach that loose leaf cannot match. Single-serve and K-Cup pod brewing has made specialty tea faster still, bringing a wider variety of blends into everyday home routines. Ready-to-drink bottled and canned teas have become a fast-growing, grab-and-go way to enjoy tea, a U.S. category the market-research firm IBISWorld estimated at about 9.3 billion dollars in 2025. 

Herbal blends have also become a significant part of how Americans drink tea today, even though they contain no true tea. Caffeine-free brews like chamomile, peppermint, ginger, and hibiscus are widely sold as wellness blends, echoing the homegrown teas colonists once brewed. 

The Tea Association of the USA estimates Americans drink more than 159 million cups of tea every day.

Tea in America Timeline 

The teas that carry American history forward are still made today. Explore ”Constant Comment”, born from a colonial recipe in 1945, American-grown Charleston Tea Garden teas, or the full Bigelow Tea collection. Follow @BigelowTea to keep up with the story as it continues.

Frequently asked questions about tea in America

When was the Boston Tea Party?

The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773, when colonists boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea into the water in protest of British taxes.

Who invented the tea bag?

The tea bag traces back to 1908, when a New York tea importer, Thomas Sullivan, sent tea samples in small silk bags and customers brewed the bag whole, accidentally giving rise to what became one of the most widely used brewing methods in the world. The United States is credited with introducing the tea bag that year.

When was Bigelow Tea founded?

Bigelow Tea was founded in 1945 by Ruth Campbell Bigelow, whose first blend, “Constant Comment”, remains one of the company's best-known teas.

Is Bigelow Tea made in America?

Bigelow Tea blends and packages its tea bags in three U.S. manufacturing facilities that employ American workers, including its headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut, while sourcing ingredients from around the world for the best flavor and quality.

How much tea do Americans drink?

According to the Tea Association of the USA, tea is found in more than 80 percent of U.S. households, more than 159 million cups per day are consumed.

Additional References

Bigelow, D. C. (2008). My Mother Loved Tea. Benjamin Press.

Bigelow, D. C. (2019). The Story of Bigelow Tea. Printed in Canada.

Bigelow, D. C., & Bigelow, E. (2022). Let's Talk About Tea. Printed in Canada.