After the infamous Boston “tea party” of 1773, it became a patriotic duty for Americans to avoid tea, which of course was a boon to the already popular coffeehouses. But then the Continental Congress actually passed a resolution against tea consumption.
“Tea must be universally renounced,” wrote John Adams, “and I must be weaned, and the sooner the better.”
You know, the English have never really forgiven us for wasting all that perfectly good tea.
