What did the Colonists drink instead of tea while the Tea Act of 1773 was in effect?
Among other things,.. Apple Cider Juices Coffee Ale Rum & Tea. Just not British tea. It was imported contraband tea from the Netherlands. . In 1777 there was a women’s counterpart to the Boston Tea Party–a “coffee party”, described by Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband John: . “One eminent, wealthy, stingy merchant (who is a bachelor) had a hogshead of coffee in his store which he refused to sell the commitee under six shillings per pound. A number of females, some say a hundred, some say more, assembled with a cart & trunks, marched down to the warehouse, & demanded the keys, which he refused to deliver, upon which one of them seized him by his neck & tossed him into the cart. Upon his finding no quarter, he delivered the keys when they tipped up the cart & discharged him; then opened the warehouse, hoisted out the coffee themselves, put it into the trunks & drove off…a large concourse of men stood amazed, silent spectators of the whole transaction.
