A Historic Charleston Foundation Fundraiser
The History of Tea in Colonial America with Oliver Pluff, Food for Thought Lecture
Fri, Mar 20
|Capt. James Missroon House
Join us for a lecture on the global and local history of tea, highlighting Charleston’s colonial-era tea culture, the symbolism of tea resistance, and how that history is preserved today with Oliver Pluff's owner, Darren Hartford. Light lunch included. $55
Time & Location
Mar 20, 2026, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Capt. James Missroon House, 40 E Bay St, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
About the event
Join us for a captivating lecture that explores the rich history of tea and its profound cultural and economic impact in Western Europe and early America. The program highlights tea’s essential role in colonial America, with a special focus on Charleston, South Carolina—one of the early colonies’ most influential port cities. Here, tea was more than a beverage: it became a daily ritual, a political symbol, and at times an act of resistance against British taxation.
The session also delves into the Lowcountry’s unique connection to tea cultivation, from eighteenth-century experiments to the later development of American-grown tea on nearby Wadmalaw Island. The talk includes insights into Charleston's own Oliver Pluff & Co. with owner Darren Hartford, a local purveyor known for reviving historic teas, toddies, and colonial-era beverages that reflect the city’s enduring tea heritage.
This lecture offers a compelling foundation for understanding how tea shaped society, trade, and…
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