Tea was introduced into North America by early settlers but was heavily taxed by the British, eventually resulting in the well-known Boston Tea Party of 1773, and it has never competed successfully with coffee as the staple beverage. Leaf buds and young leaves are used in making tea, the age of the leaves determining the taste and name of the particular commercial variety. Thus, orange pekoe is made from the youngest leaves, and souchong from the fourth leaves. Oolong tea is partly fired and then steamed, thus being intermediate between green and black teas. After being sorted, all grades of tea are packed in foil-lined chests to prevent the absorption of unpleasant odours or the loss of aroma during shipment.
Tea is an aromatic stimulant, containing various polyphenols, essential oils, and caffeine.
The concentration of caffeine in tea ranges from 2.5 to 4.5 percent, as contrasted to an average concentration of about 1.5 percent in coffee. The tea plant is attacked by several injurious insects, the most important of which is the fagot worm. The tea borer, which is the larva of a cossid moth, attacks the stems and branches of the tea plant. Several species of scale insects attack the tea plant. Several mites also feed on it, including a red spider and the yellow tea mite, which destroys the buds.