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PERRYVILLE, Ky. – Thousands of visitors pass through The National Archives in our nation’s capitol each year to catch a glimpse of such national treasures as The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. Most spend time in The Archives’ gift shop searching for a suitable souvenir of their visit. Thanks to a Kentucky company, they can take home a reminder of the event that sparked the colonies’ separation from Great Britain.

Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, located in the Kentucky Civil War village of Perryville, was commissioned by The National Archives to replicate and package the tea that was thrown overboard in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. Bruce and Shelley Richardson, owners of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, were approached by The National Archive’s staff in early 2007 to research the Boston Tea Party and come up with an appropriate packaged tea commemorating the historical event.

• “The three tea ships raided at Boston Harbor contained nearly 342 chests of several types of teas,” said Bruce Richardson. “The tea names on the manifest included the common Chinese teas of the era: Bohea, Congou, Souchong, and Hyson. I sent samples of all these teas to Washington. Hyson, a green tea, was the staff’s choice because of its flavor and the rising awareness of the health benefits of green tea.”

Richardson went on to say that America’s current fascination with green tea is nothing new. “One-third of the tea exported from China in the eighteenth century was green tea, with green Hyson being the choicest of all,” he explained. When they first encountered Hyson tea leaves in China, the English thought the unpronounceable name of this tea sounded like the name of a wealthy East India Company director in London named Phillip Hyson. Consequently, the spring-picked tea took on Mr. Hyson’s more pronounceable name. It is still imported from China today.

John Adams, ever the diary keeper, made an entry on December 17, 1773 concerning the rebellious acts of the patriots. His notation was “Last Night 3 Cargoes of Bohea Tea were emptied into the Sea...This is the most magnificent Movement of all. There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity, in this last Effort of the Patriots, that I greatly admire.”

The cast-off tea did not go down easily. Because many of the chests contained lightweight green tea, some were still floating on the surface as the morning sun rose. Eager patriots were seen further breaking up the chests in hopes that the leaves would finally sink to their watery grave. Some Bostonians rushed to the water’s edge to retrieve splinters of the broken chests to keep as souvenirs of their break from King George and his exorbitant taxes.

The Richardsons included an engraving of the Boston Tea Party and a bit of historical information on their four-ounce tins designed especially for The National Archives. After weeks of meticulous fact checking by staff historians, the finished label was approved. The year-long project came to fruition recently as the first shipment of 500 tins left the Perryville warehouse bound for Washington, D.C.

“It’s been one of the more interesting private label projects we’ve undertaken, said Shelley Richardson. “But, I don’t think we’ve ever been more proud of a product we’ve designed. It’s been an honor and a privilege to commemorate this famous event in our nation’s history.”